JD  V      -i  J  J.  /  .  J      .  y.'  o  /      J-  ::;  -L  o 

Ward,    Harry   Frederick,    1873 

1966. 
C^-^' ^:tianizing   community 


CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 


BOOKS  IN  THE  SERIES 


First  Year: 


Part  I — Student  Standards  of  Action,  by  Harrison  S.  Elliott 
and  Ethel  Cutler. 

Part  II — Christian  Standards  in  Life,  by  J.   Lovell  Murray 
and  Frederick  M.  Harris. 

Second  Year: 

Part  I— A  Life  At  Its  Best,  by  Richard  Henry  Edwards  and 
Ethel  Cutler. 

Part  II — A  Challenge  to  Life  Service,  by  Frederick  M.  Harris 
and  Joseph  C.  Robbins. 

Third  Year: 

Part  I — (In  course  of  preparation.) 

Part  II — The  Faiths  of  Mankind,  by  Edmund  D.  Soper. 

Fourth  Year: 

Part  I — The  Social  Principles  of  Jesus,  by  Walter  Rauschen- 
busch. 

Part  II — Christianizing  Community  Life,  by  Harry  F.  Ward 
and  Richard  Henry  Edwards. 


J 

COLLEGE     VOLUNTARY     STUDY     COURSES 


FOURTH  YEAR— PART/ 


NOV  23  19lfl 


CHRISTIANI^Q^ 
COMMUNITY  Llfk 


By  / 
Harry  F.  Ward 

Professor  of  Social  Service,  Boston  University  School  of  Theology, 
and  Secretary  Methodist  Federation  for  Social  Service 

and 

Richard  Henry  Edwards 

Secretary  for  Social  Study  and  Service, 
Student  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 


Written  from  outline  prepared  by 
vsub-committee  on  college  courses 
Sunday  School  Council  of  Evangelical 
Denominations 

AND 

Committee  on  Voluntary  Study 
Council  of  North  American  Student  Movements 


fCAL  Sl^# 


ASSOCIATION    PRESS 

New    York:     347    Madison    Avenue 
1918 


Copyright,  1917,  bt 

The  International  Committee  op 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 


The  Bible  text  printed  in  short  measure  (indented  both 
sides)  is  taken  from  the  American  Standard  Edition  of  the 
Revised  Bible,  copyright,  IQOI,  by  Thomas  Nelson  &  Sons, 
and  is  used  by  permission. 


CONTENTS 

Page 

I.    The  Worldwide  Community  Task i 

II.    The  Family  at  the  Center i8 

III.  The  Child  in  the  Midst 32 

IV.  Training  for  Full  Efficiency 47 

V.     Restoring  the  Weak 62 

VI.     Protecting  the  Worker 77 

VII.     Industrial  Democracy 92 

VIII.     Establishing  Equal  Justice 108 

IX.     Good  Government 121 

X.    Overthrowing  the  Common  Enemies 134 

XI.     Making  the  Church  Christian 148 

'XII.     The  Commonwealth  of  God 164 


COLLEGE  VOLUNTARY  STUDY  COURSES 

"Christianizing  Community  Life"  takes  eighth  place  in  a 
series  of  text-books  known  as  College  Voluntary  Study 
Courses.  The  general  outline  for  this  curriculum  has  been 
prepared  by  the  Committee  on  Voluntary  Study  of  the  Council 
of  North  American  Student  Movements,  representing  the 
Student  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations and  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  and  the  Sub- 
Committee  on  College  Courses  of  the  Sunday  School  Council 
of  Evangelical  Denominations,  representing  twenty-nine  com- 
munions. Therefore  the  text-books  are  planned  for  the  use 
of  student  classes  in  the  Sunday  school,  as  well  as  for  the 
supplementary  groups  on  the  campus.  The  present  text-book 
has  been  written  from  detailed  outline  approved  by  these 
Committees. 

The  text-books  are  not  suitable  for  use  in  the  academic 
curriculum,  as  they  have  been  definitely  planned  for  voluntary 
study  groups. 

This  series,  covering  four  years,  is  designed  to  form  a 
minimum  curriculum  for  the  voluntary  study  of  the  Bible," 
foreign  missions,  and  North  American  problems.  Daily  Bible 
Readings  are  printed  with  each  text-book.  The  student  view- 
point is  given  first  emphasis — what  are  the  student  interests? 
what  are  the  student  problems? 


INTRODUCTION 

This  book  assumes  that  its  readers  have  assimilated  the 
previous  book  in  the  series,  'The  Social  Principles  of  Jesus," 
by  Prof.  Walter  Rauschenbusch.  It  is  an  attempt  to  apply 
those  principles  concretely,  to  discover  what  imperative  obliga- 
tions, what  actual  tasks  they  impose  upon  present  day  Chris- 
tians. 

The  book  is  mainly  concerned  with  the  local  community, 
because  that  is  the  first  place,  and  for  most  Christians  the 
only  place,  where  the  social  principles  of  Jesus  must  be  worked 
out  in  social  living.  Naturally,  however,  and  inevitably,  the 
sphere  of  Christian  social  achievement  widens  into  national 
policies,  into  international  relationships.  The  book,  therefore, 
has  a  worldwide  touch  and  outlook.  It  points  out  that 
through  innumerable  efforts  to  Christianize  all  types  of  com- 
munities all  over  the  world,  the  universal  Christian  social  order 
will  finally  be  established. 

The  book  is  neither  a  catalog  of  needs,  nor  a  summary 
of  methods.  In  its  brief  compass,  only  those  outstanding  needs 
that  call  for  immediate  action  can  be  surveyed  and  only  trunk 
lines  of  effort  can  be  charted.  Many  questions  concerning 
Christian  social  conduct  are  raised  to  which  no  definite  answers 
can  now  be  given.^  These  answers  can  be  found  only  in  the 
experimental  laboratory  of  local  community  life  by  those 
who  are  determined  to  find  them.  Here  is  a  challenge  to 
social  action.  It  is  an  attempt  to  open  up  some  of  the  trails 
that  will  lead  to  the  civilization  of  God.  It  calls  for  men  and 
women  of  the  pioneer  spirit  to  follow  those  trails  to  the  end, 
that  others  may  "follow  after."  Those  who  hear  and  answer 
the  challenge  of  the  social  principles  of  Jesus  are  confronted 

•  Some  of  them  will  be  answered  if  the  "  Suggestions  for  Discussion  and 
Action  "  are  followed  out. 


INTRODUCTION 

with  the  choice  of  general  method.  Shall  we  spend  our  time 
and  energies  in  the  propaganda  of  some  general  scheme  of 
social  reconstruction  which  embodies  the  principles  of  Jesus, 
or  shall  we  engross  ourselves  in  the  immediate  concrete  meas- 
ures which  these  principles  plainly  require?  Shall  we  agitate 
for  the  abolition  of  poverty,  or  shall  we  find  a  way  for  the 
Italian  widow  with  four  children  to  live  on  her  mother's  pen- 
sion of  $7.50  a  week?  This  book  essays  the  difficult  task  of 
combining  both  methods. 

This  was  the  practice  of  Jesus.  He  proclaimed  a  great  mes- 
sage of  social  reconstruction.  He  trusted  those  who  would 
come  after  him  to  realize  this  program  and  find  the  methods 
that  would  express  it  for  their  need  and  time.  For  their 
enlightenment  he  also  left  a  record  of  personal  action.  The 
immediate  result  of  the  application  of  his  teaching  to  current 
conditions  was  that  Nazareth  attempted  his  life,  and  the  end 
of  it  was  that  Jerusalem  did  him  to  death. 

Still  at  work  in  the  world,  his  task  unfinished,  he  calls  those 
who  follow  him  in  thought  to  join  with  him  in  action,  to 
embody  his  principles  patiently  in  the  daily  round  of  com- 
munity service,  to  carry  them  fearlessly  to  their  ultimate  con- 
clusion in  the  great  tasks  of  social  reconstruction. 

The  authors  have  had  the  valuable  cooperation  of  the  Sub- 
Committee  on  College  Courses  of  the  Sunday  School  Council 
and  the  Committee  on  Voluntary  Study  of  the  Council  of 
North  American  Student  Movements.  Helpful  suggestions 
have  been  received  from  others  in  touch  with  student  work. 
Grateful  acknowledgment  is  also  made  to  Harrison  S.  Elliott 
and  Charles  H.  Fahs  for  their  invaluable  aid. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  WORLDWIDE  COMMUNITY  TASK 


"There  is  nothing  of  that  sort  here,"  said  the  people  of  a 
prosperous  church-going  town  to  the  speaker  who  had  described 
some  of  the  unchristian  conditions  that  are  common  to  com- 
munity life.  "We  will  be  glad  to  help  change  things  elsewhere, 
but  this  is  a  dry  town  and  we  have  no  poverty  or  vice."  Then 
the  young  doctor  called  the  speaker  aside  and  told  him  of  the 
big  liquor  bills  at  the  drug  store;  of  the  undernourished, 
badly  housed,  tubercular  colony  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town; 
of  the  girls  who,  to  his  knowledge,  had  been  led  astray.  If 
such  conditions  obtain  in  the  highest  type  of  community  that 
the  world  can  show,  what  a  task  yet  lies  before  Christianity  1 

Have  our  social  studies  ever  yet  shown  us,  even  in  America, 
a  community  in  which  family  life  is  pure  and  strong  through- 
out ;  where  children  are  all  protected  from  evil  and  developed 
to  their  full  powers ;  where  the  spirit  of  brotherhood  has  so 
permeated  industry  that  all  the  toilers  are  free  to  enrich  their 
experience;  where  there  are  no  assailants  of  the  common 
good;  where  justice  is  measured  out  with  even  hand  to  all; 
where  officials  are  "the  ministers  of  God  for  good"?  These 
are  some  of  the  things  that  must  be  accomplished  if  we  are 
to  Christianize  community  life. 

This  is  a  worldwide  task.  On  every  continent,  in  every 
nation,  human  life  forms  itself  into  communities.  Next  to  the 
family  it  is  the  most  universal  social  grouping.  If  the  world 
life  is  to  be  transformed  into  a  universal  Christian  order,  the 
community  life  of  the  world  must  be  Christianized. 


[I-i]        CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

Daily  Meditations 
First  Day:  The  Word  and  the  Deed 

And  why  call  ye  me,  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the 
things  which  I  say  ? — Luke  6 :  46. 

Read  the  parable  of  the  two  builders. — Luke 
6:  46-49. 

To  see  the  truth  and  venture  nothing  to  carry  it  into  com- 
munity life  is  to  invite  paralysis  of  the  will.  Those  who  talk 
of  social  Christianity  and  do  it  not  are  in  a  perilous  state. 
They  are  the  most  modern  hypocrites.  The  social  principles 
of  Jesus  have  been  made  clear.  They  must  now  be  translated 
into  social  action.  They  must  be  worked  out  everywhere  in 
community  deeds. 

"Why  call  ye  me,  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which 
I  say?"  Does  hot  Jesus  say  the  same  thing  as  he  looks  at  our 
modern  community  life,  which  calls  itself  Christian?  Would 
we  be  willing  to  have  the  whole  world  rise  to  the  level  of 
our  community  and  stop  there?  This  challenge  of  his  comes 
to  all  who  call  themselves  by  his  Name.  They  cannot  avoid 
it.  Naming  his  Name,  are  they  united  in  doing  his  will,  not 
merely  as  individuals,-  but  collectively?  Is  their  program 
community-wide — worldwide?  The  unchristian  world  at 
home  and  abroad  repeats  his  challenge — Why  call  ye  him 
Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  he  says? 

Second  Day:  Seeing  Community  Needs 

O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  that  killeth  the  prophets, 
and  stoneth  them  that  are  sent  unto  her !  how  often 
would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even 
as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and 
ye  would  not!  Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you 
desolate.  For  I  say  unto  you.  Ye  shall  not  see  me 
henceforth,  till  ye  shall  say.  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord. — Matt.  2Z :  37-39- 

It  was  the  mass  needs  of  the  city  that  brought  this  lament. 
2 


THE  WORLDWIDE  COMMUNITY  TASK      [I-3] 

He  was  not  mourning  for  any  particular  man  in  Jerusalem. 
He  knew  plenty  of  them  and  they  all  had  their  place  in  his 
heart.  It  was  the  city  now  that  moved  him.  It  was  the 
capital  of  the  nation,  and  like  all  capitals  it  had  in  it  the 
nation's  wealth  and  leadership,  and  behind  it  the  heart  of  the 
nation's  history.  He  was  weeping  because  his  mission  to  the 
nation  had  failed. 

How  must  the  follower  of  Jesus  feel  as  he  looks  out  over  a 
modern  city;  as  he  realizes  the  mass  need  and  dire  wickedness 
of  Chicago  or  Calcutta?  How  much  have  the  needs  of  our 
community  ever  gripped  and  moved  us? 

Jesus  also  mourned  because  of  the  impending  doom  of  the 
city.  He  saw  its  buildings  in  flames,  its  citizens  filled  and 
exiled.  Have  we  ever  seen  a  vision  of  the  fate  that  threatens 
our  civilization  unless  its  cities  and  towns  can  be  Christian- 
ized? It  has  within  it  the  seeds  of  death,  in  its  lust  and  greed, 
its  poverty  and  disease.  It  has  not  yet  wholly  refused  the 
message  of  Christ.  It  is  indeed  a  time  for  tears,  but  for  tears 
that  drive  to  deeds. 

Third  Day  :  W^orldzvidc  Kinship 

And  he  made  of  one  every  nation  of  men  to  dwell 
on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  having  determined  their 
appointed  seasons,  and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation. 
— Acts  17  :  26. 

Study  Paul's  sense  of  world  kinship. — Acts  17 :  24-28, 

Let  us  look  back  over  the  last  twenty-four  hours  and  sur- 
vey the  contribution  which  the  community  has  made  to  our 
life;  the  things  it  has  given  to  our  need  and  comfort.  It  is 
the  larger  family  caring  for  us.  Consider  all  that  it  has 
poured  into  our  life ;  the  safety  and  security  it  has  provided ; 
the  industry  and  transportation  that  have  nourished  and 
aided  us;  the  schools  that  have  brought  us  education;  the 
churches  that  have  furnished  religious  training  and  spiritual 
vision.  This  wealth  coming  to  our  life  from  the  common 
hand  is  the  unearned  increment  of  human  welfare.     The  com- 


[1-4]         CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

munity  made  it  by  living  together,  and  it  gives  it  to  us 
ungrudgingly.  How  can  we  rest  content  until  everyone  has 
the  same  opportunity  as  we  to  share  in  the  common  benefits? 

Now  look  out  over  the  world.  The  human  family  has 
a  common  life  as  well  as  a  common  blood.  Everywhere  there 
are  groups  of  people  living  in  communities  for  the  same 
reasons — for  mutual  protection,  for  the  better  performance 
of  common  work,  the  higher  development  of  common  prog- 
ress. There  are  communities  still  living  in  black  goat-skin 
tents,  as  Abraham  and  his  family  did.  There  are  villagers 
tilling  the  soil  on  the  plains  of  India  and  in  the  valleys  of 
China,  as  on  our  own  broad  acres  in  America.  There  are 
great  cities  with  their  multitudes  in  every  land.  All  com- 
munities have  the  same  fundamental  needs  of  food  and  shelter, 
health,  education,  and  spiritual  development.  They  are  all 
facing  the  problems  of  poverty,  pain,  and  vice.  Community 
life  is  another  touch  of  nature  that  makes  the  whole  world 
kin.  Our  missionary  heart  and  our  social  conscience  will  not 
consent  that  the  accident  of  birth  shall  determine  the  back- 
wardness of  the  African,  or  Might  the  future  of  the  tenement 
child;  that  the  village  in  far  Tibet  shall  be  less  favored  than 
the  American  suburban  community. 

How  will  the  success  or  failure  of  our  own  community  to 
become  Christian  afifect  these  other  communities  all  over  the 
world? 

Fourth  Day  :  Not  a  Mere  Spectator 

And  they  come  to  Jerusalem :  and  he  entered  into 
the  temple,  and  began  to  cast  out  them  that  sold  and 
them  that  bought  in  the  temple,  and  overthrew  the 
tables  of  the  moneychangers,  and  the  seats  of  them 
that  sold  the  doves ;  and  he  would  not  suffer  that  any 
man  should  carry  a  vessel  through  the  temple.  And 
he  taught,  and  said  unto  them.  Is  it  not  written.  My 
house  shall  be  called  a  house  of  prayer  for  all  the 
nations?  but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of  robbers.  And 
the  chief  priests  and  the  scribes  heard  it,  and  sought 
how  they  might  destroy  him :  for  they  feared  him,  for 

4 


THE  WORLDWIDE  COMMUNITY  TASK      [I-5] 

all   the   multitude   was   astonished   at   his   teaching. — 
Mark  11  :  15-18. 

Here  was  a  great  community  wrong.  The  poor  were  being 
forced  by  the  priestly  monopoly  to  pay  an  exorbitant  price 
for  the  things  they  needed  for  their  worship  in  the  temple. 
It  was  an  established  custom  which  went  unnoticed.  The 
priests  went  on  praying  and  the  elders  gathered  in  the  San- 
hedrin  with  never  a  thought  concerning  it.  The  throngs 
came  and  went.  The  independent  Galileans  muttered  as  they 
went  home  and  that  was  all.  Jesus  had  been  there  before  and 
watched  it.  At  last  he  could  stand  it  no  longer.  He  acted. 
How  long  will  men  pass  the  saloon  and  the  brothel  in  our 
communities  and  do  nothing  to  remove  them?  Christianity 
has  long  branded  their  rottenness  and  there  are  other  more 
subtle  community  wrongs  that  need  branding.  Who  will 
look  for  them?  Who  will  test  the  community  life  by  the  con- 
sciousness of  Jesus?  Let  us  walk  in  spirit  through  the  com- 
munity that  we  know  best.  Write  down  the  one  outstanding 
condition  in  its  life  that  causes  us  to  react  against  it  as  Jesus 
did  toward  the  moneychangers  in  the  temple. 

Fifth  Day:   Thou  Art  the  Man 

Do  we  ever  unwittingly  pronounce  judgment  upon  our- 
selves?— Read  I  Sam.  12:  1-7. 

A  group  of  students  were  asked  to  write  down  the  most 
non-Christian  relationship  that  they  could  think  of  in  their 
home  community.  A  number  of  them  wrote  down  class  cleav- 
age. They  portrayed  a  group  living  in  luxury  in  one  part  of 
the  town  and  a  group  living  in  poverty  at  the  other — at  one 
end  comfort  and  education,  at  the  other  end  ignorance  and 
misery.  They  declared  that  one  half  of  their  community 
did  not  know  how  the  other  half  lived.  Does  one  half  of  the 
world  know  how  the  other  half. lives? 

Why  should  men  feel  that  class  cleavage  in  a  "Christian" 
community   is    so    wrong?      India's    religions    have    sanctified 

5 


[1-6]        CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

caste ;  Japan  still  recognizes  feudalism ;  but  in  the  Western 
world  democracy  spreads.  Is  this  merely  the  Western  tem- 
perament, or  is  it  due  to  the  compulsion  of  the  teachings  of 
Jesus? 

Sixth  Day:  As  Others  See  Us 

Hear  this,  O  ye  that  would  swallow  up  the  needy, 
and  cause  the  poor  of  the  land  to  fail,  saying.  When 
will  the  new  moon  be  gone,  that  we  may  sell  grain? 
and  the  sabbath,  that  we  may  set  forth  wheat,  making 
the  ephah  small,  and  the  shekel  great,  and  dealing 
falsely  with  balances  of  deceit;  that  we  may  buy  the 
poor  for  silver,  and  the  needy  for  a  pair  of  shoes, 
and  sell  the  refuse  of  the  wheat?  Jehovah  hath  sworn 
by  the  excellency  of  Jacob,  Surely  I  will  never  forget 
any  of  their  works. — Amos  8:  4-7. 

Shall  I  be  pure  with  wicked  balances,  and  with  a 
bag  of  deceitful  weights?  For  the  rich  men  thereof 
are  full  of  violence,  and  the  inhabitants  thereof  have 
spoken  lies,  and  their  tongue  is  deceitful  in  their 
mouth.  Therefore  I  also  have  smitten  thee  with  a 
grievous  wound ;  I  have  made  thee  desolate  because 
of  thy  sins. — Micah  6:  ii-i3- 

Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites ! 
for  ye  cleanse  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  platter, 
but  within  they  are  full  from  extortion  and  excess. 
Thou  blind  Pharisee,  cleanse  first  the  inside  of  the  cup 
and  of  the  platter,  that  the  outside  thereof  may  be- 
come clean  also. — Matt.  23 :  25,  26. 

Here  are  bits  of  descriptions  of  community  conditions. 
They  were  made  long  before  social  surveys  were  invented. 
There  is  a  difference,  however.  Our  social  studies  are  mainly 
in  the  region  of  poverty.  These  seem  to  be  in  the  well-to-do 
neighborhoods.  They  deal  with  financial  magnates,  ornaments 
of  the  bench,  ecclesiastical  dignitaries.  Suppose  we  turned 
our  survey  methods  for  a  while  on  to  the  homes  of  the  wealthy 
or  the  middle  class.    Would  the  results  be  any  different  than 

6 


THE  WORLDWIDE  COMMUNITY  TASK      [I-7] 

those  which  come  from  the  regions  of  poverty?  Why  not  set 
up  some  betterment  agencies  on  the  boulevard,  or  appoint 
some  friendly  visitors  for  our  "best  families"?  How  well 
would  they  stand  the  test?  How  would  a  college  community 
like  to  see  an  exact  portrayal  of  its  actual  moral  and  social 
conditions?     Dare  we   face  it? 

Seventh  Day:  Going  Back  Home 

And  Jesus  returned  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  into 
Galilee :  and  a  fame  went  out  concerning  him  through 
all  the  region  round  about.  And  he  taught  in  their 
synagogues,  being  glorified  of  all.  And  he  came  to 
Nazareth,  where  he  had  been  brought  up :  and  he 
entered,  as  his  custom  was,  into  the  synagogue  on  the 
sabbath  day,  and  stood  up  to  read. — Luke  4:  14-16, 

What  was  it  that  Jesus  tried  to  do  back  at  Nazareth?  Did 
he  seek  to  help  its  needs  on  the  first  opportunity  that  came  to 
him?  Do  we  expect  ever  to  help  the  community  where  we 
have  been  brought  up? 

There  are  men  and  women  who  go  from  small  communities 
to  great  cities  and  win  wealth  or  fame.  Often  in  old  age 
they  send  back  some  gift  to  their  birthplace  to  maintain  their 
memory,  but  if  nothing  of  their  life  has  gone  into  the  com- 
munity they  have  no  really  lasting  record  there. 

The  smallest  community  is  big  enough  for  all  the  efforts  of 
the  best-equipped  man  and  woman.  Charles  Kingsley,  the 
great  English  author  and  teacher,  was  not  too  big  to  invest 
his  life  in  a  little  country  village.  He  went  there  to  preach 
when  he  left  college,  and  on  the  day  of  his  death  he  was  still 
the  rector  of  that  village  church,  but  he  had  changed  that 
community.  He  has  monuments  of  fame  elsewhere,  but  his 
living  presence  is  there.  Arthur  Smith,  the  noted  writer  and 
missionary,  chose  a  little  village  in  North  China  for  his  life 
work.  He  has  enlightened  thousands  by  his  books,  but  he  has 
lived  himself  into  the  lives  of  those  Chinese  villagers,  and 
through  them  out  into  the  life  of  the  nation  and  the  world. 


[I-s]         CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

Study  for  the  Week 

I 

A  few  years  ago  one  college  graduate  was  sent  to  proclaim 
Christianity  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  of  our  great  national 
industries.  What  did  he  find  there?  "Whiskey  Row"  with 
its  long  line  of  saloons^  lying  in  wait  for  the  pay  envelope  of 
the  worker;  the  gambling  system  of  the  city  luring  the  wives 
of  the  workers  into  "playing  policy" ;  houses  in  which  children 
died  every  year  from  unsanitary  conditions,  until  the  death 
rate  of  the  ward  was  twice  that  of  any  other  in  the  city;  no 
rooms  in  the  schools  above  the  sixth  grade  because  the  chil- 
dren must  go  to  work;  a  higher  delinquency  rate  than  any 
other  ward  in  the  city.  How  could  he  be  a  true  preacher  of  the 
Gospel  unless  he  set  himself  to  change  these  unchristian  com- 
munity conditions? 

A  classmate  of  this  minister  heard  the  call  of  need  from  the 
other  side  of  the  world  and  settled  in  a  great  Oriental  city. 
In  one  crowded  section  he  found  people  jammed  so  close 
together  in  their  sleeping  quarters  that  one  could  hardly  turn 
over  during  the  night.  He  saw  fifty  per  cent  of  the  workers 
in  the  industries  of  that  city  afflicted  with  tuberculosis. 
His  task  too  was  to  work  the  Gospel  into  community  life  as 
well  as  to  preach  it,  but  he  had  no  Christian  conscience  to 
which  to  appeal  and  no  heritage  of  Christian  progress  on 
which  to  rely. 

When  the  Men  and  Religion  Movement  speakers  came  to  a 
suburban  community,  the  ministers  said,  "We  have  no  need 
of  the  social  service  section,"  but  they  found  a  group  of  young 
people  going  from  their  dry  village  to  the  neighboring  wet 
town,  another  group  going  down  regularly  to  the  red  light 
section  of  the  city,  and  still  another  finding  their  recreation  in 
the  questionable  resorts  half  way  between  the  suburbs  and  the 
city.  Can  such  a  situation  be  met  by  regular  preaching  and 
pastoral  visitation  alone? 

In  a  small  American  rural  community  that  prided  itself  on 
being  "a  splendid  place  to  live,"  the  briefest  kind  of   social 

8 


THE  WORLDWIDE  COMMUNITY  TASK      [I-s] 

study  showed  childhood  being  injured  by  gambling  in  the 
pool  room  and  at  the  baseball  game,  and  by  unusual  profanity 
upon  the  streets ;  youth  wasting  into  inefficiency  because  there 
was  no  community  response  to  its  longing  for  wholesome 
recreation  and  its  intellectual  aspirations;  a  few  folks  in  the 
stores,  working  long  hours  past  the  point  of  fatigue.  Here 
again  the  community's  problem  was  the  task. 

Now  a  bird's-eye  view  of  a  village  in  China :  There  is 
no  sanitation.  The  filth  of  the  streets  overpowers  the  senses 
with  its  odors.  Tuberculosis  breeds  and  thrives  in  the 
windowless,  damp,  mud-floor  huts.  Concubinage  degrades 
family  life.*  Justice  is  administered  by  bambooing  alike  the 
accused  and  the  witnesses  until  confession  is  obtained  or  forti- 
tude assures  truthfulness.  It  is  understood  that  the  local 
official  who  has  bought  his  office  will  squeeze  out  for  him- 
self as  large  a  proportion  of  the  taxes  as  possible.  Supersti- 
tion and  demon  worship  still  persist.  The  missionary  must 
discover  that  the  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation 
for  the  community,  as  well  as  for  individuals. 

This  is  being  demonstrated  in  each  one  of  the  commu- 
nities described.  In  that  great  industrial  community  the  gam- 
bling system  was  destroyed.  Child  labor  laws  opened  the  closed 
rooms  in  the  school.  Municipal  sanitation  reduced  the  death 
rate.  Organized  recreation  cut  in  half  the  delinquency  rates. 
In  that  Oriental  city  the  health  of  the  workers  is  beginning 
to  be  protected.  The  suburb  has  constructively  organized  its 
recreation  life.  The  American  village  is  building  a  social 
center  for  its  young  people.  The  Chinese  village  slowly  begins 
to  improve  its  sanitation,  to  accept  new  ideals  of  family  life 
and  administration  of  justice.  These  things  are  happening 
largely  because  there  went  into  those  communities  from  our 
colleges  pioneer  spirits,  teaching  and  applying  the  principles 
of  Jesus  both  to  the  individual  and  to  the  life  of  the  com- 
munity. They  were  reenforced  by  the  rising  social  conscious- 
ness and  intelligence  of  today.  On  the  other  side  of  the  world 
they  had  first  to  create  the  basic  consciousness  of  wrong.  On 
this  side  of  the  world,  when  they  led  the  people  to  see  the- 

9 


[I-s]         CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

unchristian  conditions,  they  found  support  and  a  number  of 
agencies  ready  to  aid  a  community  program. 

But  such  results  on  a  world-wide  scale  can  not  be  achieved 
by  some  spectacular  new  universal  campaign.  In  foreign 
countries  and  at  home  the  redemptive  force  of  Christianity 
must  operate  in  community  units.  The  local  community  is 
our  focus. 

II 

Our  glimpses  into  unchristian  community  conditions  reveal 
a  striking  similarity.  This  makes  it  imperative  for  those 
who  seek  to  Christianize  community  life  to  think  and  plan 
with  the  world-view  ever  in  mind.  Jesus  projected  his  prin- 
ciples into  a  world  that  was  organized  against  them.  It 
was  in  the  grip  of  alien  and  hostile  powers.  The  Roman 
Empire  had  stamped  a  uniform  type  of  community  admin- 
istration upon  the  whole  known  world.  Its  dominating  forces 
were  brute  power  and  lust.  Mars  and  Eros  were  its  divinities. 
Behind  these,  as  the  Master  clearly  saw,  the  grimmer  god — 
Mammon — was  coming  to  power.  Jesus  proclaimed  that  his 
principles  were  to  overthrow  these  false  gods.  They  were  ulti- 
mately to  transform  the  whole  community  life.  It  was  to  be 
organized  in  purity  and  love  on  the  basis  of  service. 

Centuries  have  gone  by.  Once  again  the  world  is  moving 
toward  a  uniform  type  of  community  life  developed  by  our 
industrial  civilization.  Osaka  takes  on  the  characteristics  of 
Manchester,  and  Hankow  becomes  like  Pittsburgh.  In  this 
country  the  factory  creeps  out  into  the  village  and  changes  its 
life.  The  same  thing  is  happening  in  China  and  Japan,  when 
the  girls  and  the  women  come  back  home  to  the  village  after 
living  for  a  while  in  the  silk  and  cotton  mills.  The  organiza- 
tion of  agriculture  on  a  business  basis,  the  spread  of  news- 
papers and  magazines  to  remote  villages,  even  in  the  Orient, 
is  leading  the  countryside  to  think  and  act  like  the  city.  As 
community  life  develops  the  world  over  in  a  common  direc- 
tion, is  it  being  controlled  by  the  principles  of  Jesus? 

A  considerable  part  of  the  world  already  feels  the  touch  of 
10 


THE  WORLDWIDE  COMMUNITY  TASK      [I-s] 

powerful  Christian  agencies,  relieving  its  poverty,  healing  its 
distress,  redeeming  its  sins,  but  how  far  does  the  purpose  of 
Jesus  prevail  in  its  organized  life?  Europe  has  proudly  called 
itself  Christian,  but  whom  does  it  now  serve — the  Iron  God 
of  Battles  or  the  Prince  of  Peace?  America  has  proclaimed 
itself  a  Christian  nation  desirous  of  showing  the  path  of  peace 
and  brotherhood  to  the  people  of  the  earth,  but  does  America 
today  serve  God  or  Mammon  in  its  national  desires?  Does 
it  seek  the  gain  of  trade  or  the  service  of  brotherhood? 
The  great  evils  of  ancient  civilizations  that  were  to  be  left 
behind  when  men  started  life  afresh  in  a  new  world,  the  old 
social  sins  that  weakened  the  nations  of  the  past — have  they 
been  banished  from  among  us?  In  our  tenements  and  shacks 
the  poor  waste  away  to  death.  In  our  gilded  mansions  the 
children  of  luxury  rot  into  degeneracy,  even  as  it  was  in 
Babylon  of  old.  The  tale  of  our  deaths  from  preventable  dis- 
eases rivals  the  record  of  the  slaughters  of  the  past.  In 
crowded  cities  and  remote  country  districts  our  undeveloped, 
untrained  children  grow  to  weakness  and  inefficiency.  The 
old  poisons  still  run  in  our  veins.  The  great  wheels  of 
industry  fling  aside  junk  piles  of  broken  lives.  Ever  and 
again  blood  runs  on  the  industrial  battlefield  and  class  hatred 
spreads  through  the  body  politic.  Physicians  warn  us  that 
our  community  life  is  rotting  to  the  death  with  lust.  They 
see  the  hand-writing  on  the  wall.  The  same  fate  threatens 
which  has  wiped  out  races  in  the  past.  The  economists  tell 
us  that  our  industrial  life  is  hot  with  conflict  that  may  rend 
civilization  to  pieces.  The  champions  of  Mars  and  Mammon 
openly  declare  that  they,  and  they  alone,  can  save  us.  The 
forces  of  war  and  greed  propose  to  organize  our  community 
life  on  the  basis  of  self-interest  and  to  make  it  strong  enough 
to  defend  its  selfishness.  It  is  war  to  the  death.  The  principles 
of  Jesus  cannot  live  in  the  world  if  these  forces  prevail.  One 
or  the  other  must  go.    It  is  for  this  generation  to  choose. 

Ill 
More  than  our  own  fate  hangs  upon  the  choice.     We  are 
II 


[I-s]        CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

citizens  of  the  world  with  power  to  shape  world  forces.  Here 
again,  as  in  local  community  conditions,  we  face  a  world  situa- 
tion. If  there  be  a  social  plague  spot  anywhere  in  the  world, 
sooner  or  later  every  other  part  must  suffer  from  it.  Not  a 
transpacific  ship  ties  up  at  an  American  port  but  every  hawser 
must  be  guarded  lest  a  plague-infected  rat  from  some  Eastern 
port  might  crawl  ashore.  ''Will  you  please  tell  these  people, 
sir,  how  many  saloons  and  brothels  there  are  in  the  city  of 
Chicago?"  When  a  missionary  was  preaching  in  the  interior 
of  India  this  was  the  question  asked  in  good  English  by  an 
Indian  in  the  audience. 

From  the  East,  the  ancient  mother  of  civilization,  there 
came  the  fundamental  evils  of  our  common  life,  and  there 
they  still  are  found  in  all  their  primitive  power.  There  is  the 
caste  system,  the  oldest  form  of  class  cleavage;  there  great 
hordes  of  men  and  women  toil  as  beasts  of  burden;  there 
woman  is  often  held  as  property;  and  pollution,  which  here 
takes  the  form  of  prostitution,  there  manifests  itself  in  wide- 
spread polygamy,  and  even  grosser  forms  of  sex  license. 
There,  until  Christianity  creates  it,  no  social  conscience  senses 
the  enormity  of  these  wrongs. 

The  West  has  added  to  the  original  social  burden  of  the 
East.  While  the  missionary  has  been  carrying  to  the  Orient 
the  words  of  life,  our  industrial  civilization  has  been  transport- 
ing the  seeds  of  death.  While  the  Gospel  has  been  modifying 
the  callousness  of  primitive  people  to  human  suffering,  the 
exploitation  of  the  weaker  races  by  the  white  men  has  become 
a  world  scandal,  as  in  the  Congo  rubber  atrocities  and  the 
slavery  of  the  cocoa  plantations  of  West  Africa.  English 
cannon  rammed  opium  down  the  throat  of  China,  and  now 
American  advertising  sticks  the  deadly  cigarette  between  her 
teeth.  While  our  states  are  rapidly  going  dry,  pious  Boston 
helps  to  make  Africa  drunk  by  shipping  rum  in  cargoes  worth 
sixty-five  thousand  dollars  apiece.  While  the  Gospel  has  been 
repealing  the  law  of  the  jungle,  transforming  the  cannibals 
of  Fiji  and  the  head-hunters  of  Borneo,  our  Western  civiliza- 
tion has  been  organizing  slaughter  on  a  greater  scale  than  the 

12 


THE  WORLDWIDE  COMMUNITY  TASK      [I-s] 

world  has  ever  known.  It  has  finally  called  from  the  East 
the  primitive  fighting  men  who  were  bred  to  kill,  who  were 
taught  from  infancy  that  killing  Christians  was  a  work  of 
religious  merit,  has  put  into  their  hands  all  the  deadly  weapons 
that  modern  science  could  invent,  and  then  led  them  forth  to 
slay  Christians  with  maximum  efficiency.  How  can  our 
Western  civilization  accomplish  its  missionary  purpose  unless 
it  transforms  these  forces  which  are  shaping  the  world?  If 
the  Occident  would  carry  the  Gospel  over  the  whol'e  world, 
it  must  supply  a  type  of  living  which  will  realize  both  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  and  the  ideals  of  mankind. 

IV 

To  Christianize  the  community  life  means  to  permeate  all 
its  activities  and  relationships  with  the  principles  and  ideals 
of  Jesus.  It  means  to  make  the  whole  of  life  religious,  so 
that  there  shall  be  no  separation  between  the  spirit  of  worship 
in  the  community  and  the  spirit  of  its  play,  its  work,  and 
its  government.  The  task  is  not  the  endeavor  of  a  day.  It 
is  not  the  carrying  through  of  any  specific  social  reform. 
Community  service,  which  is  undertaken  with  the  Christian 
motive,  does  not  stop  with  an  attempt  to  improve  the  surface 
conditions  of  community  life.  It  reaches  underneath  to  the 
relationships  which  are  back  of  the  facts.  It  proposes  not 
simply  reformation,  but  reconstruction  and  transformation 
of  the  community  life.  It  knows  that  palliatives  will  not 
suffice.  Underneath  the  breakdown  of  the  family  there  is 
a  fatal  lack  of  reverence  for  the  personality  of  others.  Be- 
hind the  unprotected,  undeveloped  children  there  is  a  failure 
to  sense  the  sacredness  of  the  child.  Back  of  the  death  rate 
and  delinquency  of  the  American  city  or  the  Chinese  village, 
behind  their  poverty  and  inefficiency  is  the  exploitation  of  the 
weak  by  the  powerful  through  industry  and  government. 

Christianity  demands  a  fraternal  community  for  the  satis- 
faction of  its  ideals.  It  requires  that  men  who  call  God 
Father  should  find  the  way  to  live  as  brothers.  Now  we  have 
rifts  and  chasms.     Our  task  is  to  bring  the  different  groups 

13 


[I-s]        CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

of  our  community  life,  the  divers  nations  and  races  of  the 
world,  together  in  a  real  brotherhood,  until  there  shall  be  no 
handicapped,  exploited,  dispossessed  people,  but  all  shall  live 
together  on  terms  of  equal  opportunity.  Solidarity  is  not 
simply  the  dream  of  the  workers  at  the  bottom.  It  is  the 
imperative  of  the  Gospel. 

The  process  of  Christianizing  community  life  began,  of 
course,  long  ago.  The  Church  could  not  have  preached  and 
taught  the  message  of  the  Master  for  centuries  without  achiev- 
ing great  social  results.  Although  its  effort  has  been  directed 
largely  towards  the  improvement  of  individual  life,  the 
result  of  its  work  has  been  mightily  felt  in  the  community. 
Out  of  preaching  and  teaching  and  personal  evangelism,  there 
have  come  great  streams  of  healing  and  enrichment  for  the 
community  life.  These  efforts,  however,  have  never  achieved 
their  full  possibility  in  community  life  because  community 
results  have  been  only  a  by-product.  Yet  they  provide  tre- 
mendous reserve  funds  of  idealism,  now  that  we  take  up  the 
direct  and  conscious  task  of  Christianizing  the  community. 

This  large  purpose  permits  no  lessening  of  the  effort  to 
educate  and-to  save  the  individual.  It  means  more  evangelism, 
stronger  churches,  a  closer  personal  fellowship  with  Jesus,  as 
his  followers  cooperate  more  fully  with  him  in  his  gigantic 
task  of  redeeming  the  whole  world  life.  All  the  reserves  of 
Christian  character  and  training  must  be  drafted  for  this 
campaign,  the  extension  of  Christianity  to  the  group  relations 
of  mankind.  It  is  the  mightiest  venture  upon  which  religion 
has  yet  embarked.  It  is  a  world  that  Christianity  now  goes 
forth  anew  to  conquer,  and  the  forces  of  evil  have  not  been 
idle  while  that  world  has  been  growing.  This  generation  of 
Christians  must  have  the  utmost  faith  and  daring  courage  if 
its  task  is  to  be  successfully  accomplished. 

Suggestions  for  Discussion  and  Action 
I.    General  Suggestions  to  the  Leader  and  the  Group 
It  is  desired  that  the  group  hour  shall  be  a  clinical  study,  in 
14 


THE  WORLDWIDE  COMMUNITY  TASK      [I-s] 

the  light  of  the  book,  of  community  conditions.  It  is  not 
intended  that  the  time  shall  be  spent  in  a  review  of  the  text, 
but  rather  in  a  discussion  of  actual  conditions  in  particular 
communities.  The  ground  covered  in  each  group  hour  should 
include  communities  in  foreign  lands,  as  well  as  in  America. 
The  material  for  discussion  of  community  problems  in 
America  should  be  secured  by  actual  investigation  in  the 
college  town  or  a  nearby  community.  It  may  also  be  supplied 
by  a  vivid  remembrance  of  conditions  in  home  or  other 
well-known  communities.  The  presence  in  the  group  of 
students  born  in  mission  lands  will  greatly  aid  the  discussion 
of  world  conditions.  In  this  way  material  from  a  wide  variety 
of  communities  may  be  presented;  as  for  example,  agricul- 
tural, or  industrial,  either  at  home  or  abroad.  Where  the 
membership  of  the  group  does  not  supply  adequate  variety  of 
material,  and  particularly  where  knowledge  of  foreign 
conditions  is  lacking,  this  may  be  secured  by  visualizing  com- 
munity life  on  the  basis  of  personal  talk  with  travelers,  mis- 
sionaries, and  old  residents,  or  by  careful  reading  and  study.^ 

11.     Knowing  the  Community 

Let  each  member  think  persistently  in  terms  of  one  com- 
munity, as  indicated  above,  and  let  the  results  be  compared 
with  the  study  of  the  college  town. 

Here  are  some  of  the  things  each  group  member  should  be 
familiar  with  in  the  community  he  has  chosen : 

Get  a  map  if  possible,  or  make  a  sketch  of  your  own  and 
study  its  streets  and  boundaries. 

What  are  the  various  national  groups  among  the  people? 
Where  do  the  wealthy  live?  the  poor?  Color  roughly  on  the 
map  the  districts  which  are  occupied  by  various  groups. 
Where  are  the  chief  industries  located?    Where  do  the  largest 

1  The  following  books  on  social  conditions  in  mission  lands  should  be  used 
for  reference:  "  Sociological  Progress  in  Mission  Lands,"  Capen;  "Human 
Progress  through  Missions,"  Barton;  "Social  Aspects  of  Foreign  Missions," 
Faunce;  "The  Social  Work  of  Christian  Missions,"  Taylor;  "Contrasts  in 
Social  Progress,"  Tenney.  Recommendations  as  to  the  best  books  on  partic- 
ular countries  can  be  secured  from  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  25 
Madison  Ave.,  New  York  City. 

15 


[I-s]         CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

groups  of  people  do  their  work?  Indicate  these  facts  on  your 
map.  Is  the  chief  economic  basis  of  your  community  life 
I.  agricultural;  2.  industrial;  3.  residential;  or  4.  mixed?  Label 
its  type  on  the  map.  Put  these  maps  up  in  a  convenient  place 
for  comparison  and  further  study. 

Has  any  social  survey  been  made  of  this  community?  If 
so,  study  with  care  the  needs  and  active  forces  which  it 
reveals.  If  not,  these  can  probably  be  satisfactorily  secured 
without  undertaking  a  survey. 

Is  there  anything  like  a  general  state  of  mind  prevalent  in 
this  community?  Are  the  people  as  a  whole  discouraged, 
optimistic,  boastful,  pleasure-seeking,  thrifty,  backward,  or 
progressive?  Can  you  locate  the  sources  of  different  atti- 
tudes which  may  be  present  throughout  the  whole  community? 
How  highly  has  community  spirit  been  developed?  What 
distinguishes  it  from  other  towns  round  about? 

III.    Suggestions  for  Further  Investigation  During  the  Period 
of   Study 

During  this  course  various  distinct  aspects  of  community 
life  will  be  considered.  A  considerable  amount  of  definite 
information,  secured  by  investigation,  conversation,  and  read- 
ing, will  be  necessary.  It  is  suggested,  therefore,  that  each 
member  of  the  group  take  a  double  responsibility:  First,  that 
he  continue  during  the  twelve  weeks  to  represent  the  com- 
munity he  has  chosen  for  the  purpose  of  enriching  the  compar- 
ative discussions  of  the  group.  This  will  necessitate  his  becom- 
ing more  and  more  familiar  with  this  community.  If  it  is  one 
that  he  can  visit,  he  must  get  acquainted  with  more  people. 
Some  old  residents  who  never  heard  of  a  social  survey  have  a 
deep  understanding  of  the  life  of  the  town.  Think  long  on 
what  you  know  about  typical  families,  their  morals,  their  rela- 
tion to  poverty,  disease,  and  crime,  their  relation  to  civic 
achievements,  education,  and  religion.  If  it  is  a  community  in 
other  parts  of  America  or  in  foreign  lands,  then  one  will  need 
to  continue  to  gather  data  about  it.  Think  over  the  personal 
forces  available  for  the  Christian  transformation  of  the  com- 

16 


THE  WORLDWIDE  COMMUNITY  TASK      [Is] 

rnunity.  Second,  each  group  member  will  need  to  undertake 
a  more  careful  investigation  of  one  special  phase  of  com- 
munity life,  not  only  in  the  community  he  has  chosen,  but 
in  community  life  in  general.  This  will  involve  the  assignment 
of  some  one  chapter  of  the  book  to  each  member  of  the  group 
at  this  first  meeting. 

The  limitations  of  space  make  impossible  any  bibliography 
in  this  book.  Consult  the  college  librarian  and  well-informed 
professors    or   ministers. 

It  should  be  clearly  recognized  that  this  book  does  not 
attempt  to  provide  a  standardized  program  of  community 
service.  It  diagnoses  the  general  situation  and  indicates  the 
directions  in  which  progress  can  best  be  made.  Those  who 
study  it  must  develop  a  program  adapted  to  the  needs  of  their 
own  local  situations.  In  doing  this  they  should  consult  the 
social  service  department  of  their  respective  communions,  or 
of  the  Federal  Council  of  Churches,  or  of  the  Young  Men's 
or  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations. 


17 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  FAMILY  AT  THE  CENTER 

At  the  center  of  community  life,  the  world  over,  among  all 
the  races  of  men,  there  stands  the  family.  It  determines  the 
character  of  community  life.  The  Hebrew  nation,  developing 
out  of  the  family  of  Abraham,  is  a  summary  of  social  develop- 
ment. The  human  family  grows  out  of  smaller  families. 
Scattered  in  lonely  regions,  in  solitary  mountain  huts  and  for- 
est cabins ;  crowded  together  on  Chinese  river  boats,  or  in 
New  York  tenements;  living  in  the  primitive  conditions  of 
African  jungles  or  in  the  high  development  of  an  American 
suburb,  all  famihes  have  in  them  the  possibility  of  contribut- 
ing to  the  world  life.  Those  who  would  Christianize  the 
communities  of  the  world,  must  raise  family  life  to  its  highest 
terms. 

Daily  Meditations 

First  Day  :  Everybody  in  a  Family 

God  setteth  the  solitary  in  families. — Psalm  68:  6. 

The  "man  without  a  country"  was  the  sensation  of  a  day. 
The  man  without  a  family  would  be  a  greater  marvel.  When 
a  child  loses  his  family  relationship,  the  community  makes 
haste  in  various  ways  to  form  other  family  bonds  around 
him.  Can  we  estimate  the  contribution  that  the  family  has 
made  to  our  life?  Multiply  this  and  endeavor  to  assess  the 
community  work  of  the  family.  The  ties  that  pull  both  back 
to  the  old  home,  and  forward  to  the  home  of  the  future,  are 
among  the  spiritual  bonds  that  tie  men  and  women  to  the 
higher  life  of  the  community.  The  homing  instinct  is  a  spirit- 
ual force. 

A  man  recently  wrote  an  intimate  friend,  "I  have  come  back 
i8 


THE  FAMILY  AT  THE  CENTER  [II-2] 

here  to  my  native  village  after  an  absence  of  many  years,  to 
the  sunlight  of  the  eastern  room  w^here  I  w^as  born,  in  the 
old  house  where  our  family  lived  for  fifty  years  in  unbroken 
love  and  friendship,  where  our  father  and  mother  sacrificed 
and  worked  for  us,  in  this  home  from  which  they  maintained 
for  twenty  consecutive  years  one  of  their  five  children  away  in 
school  or  college."  What  other  contribution  to  the  world 
could  these  parents  have  made  comparable  to  five  lives,  put 
out  into  the  constructive  forces  of  the  nation,  carrying  some- 
thing of  their  message  to  the  life  of  men? 

Second  Day:  What  Sort  of  a  Family  Do  I  Like? 

Jesus  said  unto  them  .  .  .  from  the  beginning  of 
the  creation,  Male  and  female  made  he  them.  For  this 
cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and 
shall  cleave  to  his  wife ;  and  the  two  shall  become 
one  flesh :  so  that  they  are  no  more  two,  but  one 
flesh.  What  therefore  God  hath  joined  together,  let 
not  man  put  asunder. — Mark  10:  5-9. 

Here  is  the  Christian  standard  simply  stated  by  Jesus  him- 
self. Does  it  seem  like  a  commonplace  in  our  community  life? 
How  would  the  purity  and  charm  of  the  Christian  home 
impress  us  if  we  saw  it  for  the  first  time  after  being  brought 
up  in  the  midst  of  Moslem  polygamy,  or  in  a  part  of  Africa 
where  women  are  chattels,  purchasable  for  half  the  price  of 
a  cow?  Does  Jesus  set  too  high  a  standard,  or  is  there  more 
charm  in  the  lax  views  of  some  Bohemian  group,  coining 
clever  phrases  about  platonic  affection,  and  imagining  itself 
making  new  experiments  in  sex  freedom?  It  is  sheer  hypoc- 
risy to  talk  of  social  progress  if  one's  own  life  operates  for 
the  breakdown  of  the  very  foundation  of  society. 

Third  Day  :  The  Creative  Power  of  Motherhood 

A  worthy  woman  who  can  find? 
For  her  price  is  far  above  rubies. 
The  heart  of  her  husband  trusteth  in  her, 
And  he  shall  have  no  lack  of  gain. 

19 


[II-3]      CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

She  doeth  him  good  and  not  evil 

All  the  days  of  her  life    .    .    . 

She  openeth  her  mouth  with  wisdom; 

And  the  law  of  kindness  is  on  her  tongue. 

She  looketh  well  to  the  ways  of  her  household, 

And  eateth  not  the  bread  of  idleness. 

Her  children  rise  up,  and  call  her  blessed ; 

Her  husband  also,  and  he  praiseth  her,  saying: 

Many  daughters  have  done  worthily, 

But  thou  excellest  them  all. 

Grace  is  deceitful,  and    beauty  is  vain; 

But    a    woman    that    feareth    Jehovah,    she    shall    be 

praised. 
Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands; 
And   let   her   works   praise   her   in   the   gates. — Prov. 

31 :  10-12;  26-31. 
Read  all  of  this  alphabetic  poem  in  praise  of  a  mother 
of  the  long  ago. — Prov.  31  :   10-31. 

This  picture  goes  far  beyond  the  sacred  sentiments  of  per- 
sonal affection  which  lead  our  modern  communities  to  cele- 
brate Mother's  Day.  It  is  a  description  of  the  community 
service  of  motherhood  to  a  patriarchal  group.  It  compares 
the  labor  of  woman  in  the  home  with  that  of  the  other 
groups  that  support  the  community,  with  the  toil  of  the 
merchants  who  bring  it  nourishment;  with  the  strength  of  the 
soldiers  who  defend  it;  with  the  wisdom  of  the  philosophers 
who  teach  it.  It  shows  that  in  her  family  sphere  she  partakes 
of  all  the  services  which  are  rendered  by  the  larger  community 
groupings. 

Do  our  communities  fully  appreciate  the  creative  work  of 
women  in  the  home?  Study  the  conditions  among  the  thou- 
sands of  women  secluded  in  the  zenanas  of  India  and  the 
harems  of  the  Moslem  world.  What  factors  have  made  the 
difference  between  their  situation  and  that  of  women  in 
America? 

A  tenement  mother  working  at  her  sewing  machine  and 
nursing  her  babe  while  she  worked  was  portrayed  on  one  of 
the  posters  at  the  Chicago  industrial  exhibit.     There  was  no 

20 


THE  FAMILY  AT  THE  CENTER  [II-4] 

time  for  her  to  stop  if  her  own  food  was  to  be  earned.  Under- 
neath was  the  inscription :  "Sacred  Motherhood."  Do  our 
communities  treat  motherhood  as  sacred?  How  does  our 
reverence  for  motherhood  in  the  tenements  compare  with  that 
in  our  own  home? 


Fourth  Day:  A   Training  School  for  Righteousness 

Children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord :  for  this  is 
right.  Honor  thy  father  and  mother  (which  is  the 
first  commandment  with  promise),  that  it  may  be  well 
with  thee,  and  thou  mayest  live  long  on  the  earth. 
And,  ye  fathers,  provoke  not  your  children  to  wrath : 
but  nurture  them  in  the  chastening  and  admonition 
of  the  Lord. — Eph.  6:   1-4. 


"Parents  are  all  the  time  asking  me  to  solve  their  children's 
moral  problems,  to  give  them  the  guidance  they  themselves 
ought  to  have  given  them  long  ago  in  their  own  homes,"  says 
a  teacher.  "Often  enough  I  cannot  give  it  because  of  the 
parents  themselves.  They  cannot  make  high  standards  effec- 
tive in  their  home  until  they  themselves  are  different  people." 
The  famous  boys'  schools  in  England  have  certain  traditional 
standards  of  honor.  They  are  an  unwritten  law.  The  boy 
who  enters  the  school  finds  himself  in  their  atmosphere.  He 
lives  up  to  them  by  unconscious  development  or  he  is  ostra- 
cized. The  family,  likewise,  by  its  standards  of  honor  must 
be  the  training  school  of  righteousness  for  the  community. 

The  cry  for  social  righteousness  is  a  cry  for  family  right- 
eousness. The  records  of  juvenile  lawlessness  trace  back 
into  homes  where  the  family  life  has  broken  down.  The  cor- 
ruption of  the  last  thirty  years  in  American  political  and 
business  life  has  been  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  break- 
down of  standards  in  the  family.  The  old  control  of  force 
was  largely  abandoned,  and  parents  were  not  adequately 
equipped  to  train  their  children  by  the  power  of  love  and  rea- 
son.   How  shall  this  needed  equipment  be  secured? 

21 


[II-5]      CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

Fifth   Day  :   Family  Relationships  Extended 

And  there  came  his  mother  and  his  brethren;  and, 
standing  without,  they  sent  unto  him,  calling  him. 
And  a  multitude  was  sitting  about  him;  and  they  say 
unto  him,  Behold,  thy  mother  and  thy  brethren  without 
seek  for  thee.  And  he  answereth  them,  and  saith. 
Who  is  my  mother  and  my  brethren?  And  looking 
round  on  them  that  sat  round  about  him,  he  saith, 
Behold,  my  mother  and  my  brethren!  For  whosoever 
shall  do  the  will  of  God,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and 
sister,  and  mother. — Mark  3  :  31-35. 

In  a  full  family  there  are  eight  relationships  to  be  main- 
tained: husband  and  wife,  father  and  mother,  son  and 
daughter,  brother  and  sister.  Meditation  upon  each  of  these 
will  reveal  their  significance  as  social  forces  in  community 
life.  So  important  are  they  that  when  people  are  denied 
them,  substitutes  grow  up  to  replace  them.  Homes  are  sup- 
plied for  children  without  parents.  Fraternities  and  sorori- 
ties express  the  extension  of  two  of  these  relationships. 

But  there  is  no  possibility  of  extending  the  central  relation- 
ship. According  to  Jesus  this  is  a  tightly  closed  circle.  To 
break  or  extend  it  involves  disaster,  personal  and  racial.  The 
evidence    of    modern    science    confirms    the   ancient    teaching. 

Which  of  these  eight  relationships  is  most  in  danger  in 
American  life — among  the  poor?  among  the  well-to-do? 
among  college  men  and  women? 

Sixth  Day  :  Love,  the  Family  Law 

These  things  therefore  the  soldiers  did.  But  there 
were  standing  by  the  cross  of  Jesus  his  mother,  and 
his  mother's  sister,  Mary  the  wife  of  Clopas,  and 
Mary  Magdalene.  When  Jesus  therefore  saw  his 
mother,  and  the  disciple  standing  by  whom  he  loved, 
he  saith  unto  his  mother.  Woman,  behold,  thy  son ! 
Then  saith  he  to  the  disciple.  Behold,  thy  mother! 
And  from  that  hour  the  disciple  took  her  unto  his  own 
home. — John  19:  25-27. 

22 


THE  FAMILY  AT  THE  CENTER  [II-7] 

In  the  blackness  of  that  cross-crowned  hill  there  are  rays 
of  light.  One  shines  from  family  love.  Mary's  yearning  heart 
endures  the  awful  scene,  that  she  may  comfort  her  son. 
Jesus,  in  mortal  pain,  with  the  weight  of  the  world  upon 
him,  yet  makes  provision  for  his  mother's  care.  Is  there  any- 
thing stronger  in  the  universe  than  this  family  bond?  When 
the  world  breaks  up,  here  is  a  place  of  refuge.  Was  this  the 
reason  why  Jesus  proclaimed  that  the  world  must  organize 
its  whole  life  on  this  same  principle  of  love?  This  scene 
reflects  the  place  of  the  mother  in  the  Oriental  household. 
Her  honor,  however,  is  generally  accompanied  by  the  irksome 
and  bitter  subordination  of  the  young  wife.  In  India,  betrothal 
takes  place  often  in  infancy  and  the  child  wife  frequently 
goes  to  the  home  of  the  bridegroom  to  be  the  family  drudge. 
Has  Christianity  exalted  the  place  of  the  wife  in  the  home 
without  lowering  that  of  the  mother? 

Seventh  Day  :  The  Whole  Family  in  Heaven  and  in  Earth 
A  great  American  philosopher  once  described  the  scholastic 
definition  of  God  as  an  idol  stuffed  with  adjectives.  Contrast 
with  that  Jesus'  approach  to  God.  For  him  God  is  not  simply 
the  ultimate  power  or  knowledge,  but  he  is  the  Father  of  all 
the  children  of  men,  caring  for  their  needs,  providing  power 
to  redeem  them  from  their  sins.  Jesus  interprets  the  universe 
in  personal  terms  and  makes  it  one  great  family.  This  involves 
certain  consequences.  If  we  desire  to  lead  all  men  into  a 
consciousness  of  the  fatherhood  of  God,  is  not  the  easiest 
path  the  practice  of  all  brotherhood  with  them?  How  c^n 
we  spread  Jesus'  conception  of  the  universe  unless  we  can 
show  the  Christian  family  life?  If  we  know  not  how  to  give 
good  gifts  to  our  children,  how  can  we  make  the  backward 
parents  of  other  lands  get  any  realization  of  a  Heavenly 
Father  and  his  divine  benevolence?  Do  we  support  national 
policies  which  will  make  for  separate  families  of  nations  or 
for  one  great  world-wide  brotherhood?  In  our  attitude  to 
other  races  are  we  helping  to  draw  them  into  one  family 
company  ? 

23 


[II-s]      CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

Study  for  the  Week 

I 

In  Tokyo  many  who  could  not  speak  English  came  to  use 
"Christian  Home"  as  their  phrase  for  an  ideal  household. 
One  of  the  first  results  of  the  contact  of  Christianity  with 
non-Christian  social  life  has  always  been  a  change  in  family 
standards.  In  the  Roman  world,  a  distinguishing  difference 
that  made  the  Christians  a  separate  group  was  their  higher 
order  of  family  life.  In  Uganda  it  was  formerly  a  source  of 
shame  for  a  man  not  to  have  a  large  number  of  women  to 
cultivate  his  land;  today,  as  the  direct  result  of  Christian 
influence,  it  is  a  disgrace  to  have  more  than  one  wife.  The 
ideal  connoted  by  our  word  "home"  is  peculiar  to  Christianity. 
In  pagan  lands  it  is  easier  to  secure  church  membership  than 
the  abandonment  of  polygamy;  and  even  in  New  York  or 
London  or  Paris,  it  is  easier  to  secure  regular  church  attend- 
ance than  obedience  to  the  single  standard  of  morals. 

A  great  European  historian  declares  that  there  is  an  exact 
historic  parallel  between  the  present  condition  of  our  industrial 
civilization  and  the  final  period  of  the  Roman  Empire.  He 
finds  the  same  fundamental  forces  of  degeneration  at  work. 
That  empire  broke  down  finally  when  its  family  life  was 
rotted  to  the  roots.  Does  this  mean  that  never  since  Chris- 
tianity faced  the  family  degeneration  of  the  Roman  world  has 
it  been  called  upon  to  meet  such  malignant  forces  operating 
for  the  destruction  of  its  life?  The  question  is  not  simply 
what  is  the  present  condition  of  the  family  in  America,  but 
what  forces  and  tendencies  throughout  our  whole  industrial 
civilization  are  massing  themselves  against  the  permanence  of 
family  life? 

II 

Bad  housing  defeats  the  Christian  ideal  of  family  hfe.  It 
saps  its  physical  strength,  destroys  its  moral  standards,  and 
depletes  its  spiritual  energy.  A  few  families  can  rise  above 
it,  but  in  the  main  it  means  family  decay.  It  presses  hard 
upon  both  health  and  morals.     In  the  districts  of  bad  hous- 

24 


THE  FAMILY  AT  THE  CENTER  [Us] 

ing,  where  filth  and  darkness  breed  the  germs  of  disease,  the 
mortality  rate  of  our  cities  mounts  the  highest.  In  the  tene- 
ment sections,  where  overcrowding  prevails,  where  there  is 
lack  of  privacy  in  sleeping  quarters,  the  first  restraint  of 
morals  is  removed  and  life  is  left  defenseless  against  the  evils 
that  mass  against  it  on  our  city  streets. 

These  conditions  are  not  confined  to  great  cities.  Almost 
any  small  town  has  its  group  of  shacks  and  shanties  along 
the  river  bottom  or  over  across  the  tracks.  In  almost  any 
rural  section  there  can  be  found  houses  which  offer  conditions 
for  the  family  not  as  good  as  the  barn  offers  for  the  stock.  In 
some  industrial  sections  boarding  houses  can  be  found  where 
the  beds  are  never  cold,  where  as  the  day  shift  turns  out,  the 
night  shift  turns  in. 

In  South  Africa  white  proprietors  herd  the  native  diamond 
miners  together  in  great  enclosures,  like  animals.  In  North 
China,  the  average  poor  family  lives  in  one  room,  huddling 
together  on  the  heated  stone  and  brick  k'ang,  which  serves  as 
stove  and  bed.  In  Sumatra  eight  to  twelve  families  live  in 
a  single  house,  rectangular  in  shape,  without  partitions,  each 
family  being  assigned  to  a  section  of  the  floor. 

Christian  ideals  of  family  life  create  a  demand  for  good 
housing.  Among  the  first  evidences  that  the  Christian  faith 
has  gripped  the  native  mind  and  heart  in  Africa  is  the  demand 
for  two-room  instead  of  one-room  thatched  huts.  A  native 
teacher  built  his  home  in  the  familiar  Chinese  architecture,  and 
made  its  sanitary  conveniences  teach  his  people  how  to  make 
a  house  the  basis  for  efficient  family  life. 

In  the  community  that  is  seeking  to  become  Christian,  ade- 
quate provisions  for  sunlight  and  fresh  air,  for  proper  sleep- 
ing quarters  for  all  the  people,  become  an  imperative  Chris- 
tian duty.  Health  and  housing  lectures,  agitation,  and  edu- 
cation in  city  and  country,  are  producing  far-reaching  results. 
In  many  cities  determined  groups  of  men  and  women  have 
secured  building  codes.  The  building  of  attractive  tene- 
ments with  rents  supplying  a  moderate  return  on  the  invest- 
ment,  or  better   still,   the   creation   of   garden  cities,   may   be 

25 


[II-s]      CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

just  as  truly  religious  service  as  Jesus'  caring  for  the  bodies 
of  the  people  in  his  day.  Rapid  transit  distributing  the  people 
out  to  the  regions  of  open  space  and  fresh  air  becomes  like- 
wise a  religious  undertaking.  The  homestead  policy  of  the 
United  States  attempted  to  give  every  family  a  home,  trying 
to  produce  a  hardy  race,  of  sound  stock  and  good  health. 
Why  has  that  policy  failed  to  achieve  its  ideal?  Can  a  Chris- 
tian citizen  take  up  the  practical  aspects  of  housing  reform 
and  refrain  from  fighting  through  the  fundamental  issues  of 
economic  justice  in  land  ownership?  There  must  be  Chris- 
tian thinking  here  as  well  as  Christian  action  in  service.  There 
is  an  inevitable  connection  between  the  great  estates  of  the 
wealthy  and  the  depletion  of  rural  life.  What  do  we  think 
of  the  Christian  standard  of  the  young  couple  just  graduated 
from  college  who  went  back  into  an  agricultural  community 
with  the  ambition  to  see  how  many  farms  they  could  own? 
How  do  we  trace  the  connection  between  them  and  city  con- 
gestion? 

Ill 

The  Christian  family  has  a  fighting  chance  to  survive  bad 
housing,  but  it  cannot  survive  bad  household  management 
and  low  ideals.  The  ideal  home  is  a  cooperative  enterprise  of 
good  management.  But  in  our  modern  cities  anarchy  often 
rules  the  home.  Meals  poorly  cooked  and  badly  served,  dis- 
order and  dirt  and  the  lack  of  discipline — what  paralysis  of 
ideals  follows  in  their  train !  But  the  neatness  and  order,  the 
light  and  cheer,  the  cooperative  triumph  of  a  happy  family 
meal  make  ideals  live.  In  many  of  our  homes  poverty  makes 
this  impossible.  A  college  man  living  in  the  lower  East  Side 
of  New  York  found  one  of  the  most  surprising  elements  in 
the  community  life  the  way  in  which,  as  he  put  it,  "the  people 
eat  any  time  they  feel  like  it,  on  the  street  or  in  the  house, 
without  regard  for  the  regulation  three  meals  a  day."  In 
many  other  lands  the  common  meal  is  unknown  save  among 
Christian  families.  The  African  woman  eats  after  her  lord 
has  finished.    The  child  wives  of  India,  the  inmates  of  Moslem 

26 


THE  FAMILY  AT  THE  CENTER  [Us] 

harems,  can  know  nothing  of  efficient  household  management. 
Even  in  Japan  it  has  not  been  good  form  for  the  woman  to 
eat  with  her  husband  and  his  guests.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  domestic  science  is  called  for  in  schools  for  girls  in 
all  mission  lands. 

The  menace  of  bad  home  management  is  not  limited  to 
backward  peoples  or  the  poor.  What  is  the  influence  of  apart- 
ment house  life  upon  the  family?  Do  well-to-do  women  never 
give  up  their  normal  share  in  the  work  of  the  home  and  be- 
come shirkers  and  parasites,  mere  gadders  and  spenders? 
The  opportunities  which  modern  organization  offers  to  lighten 
housework  have  often  been  used  to  escape  its  responsibilities 
altogether.  How  much  temperamental  incompatibility  has 
been  intensified  to  disastrous  results,  both  in  the  group  of 
riches  and  the  group  of  poverty,  because  of  the  failure  to 
center  life  in  the  simple  cooperative  tasks  that  go  to  make  a 
home ! 

Successful  homemaking  calls  for  scientific  management.  It 
demands  skill  in  the  efficient  employment  of  labor.  House- 
hold management  probably  numbers  more  employers  than  any 
other  single  industry,  and  these  employers  are  women.  More- 
over they  are  deahng  with  women.  If  women  have  an  obliga- 
tion to  use  their  social  conscience  in  improving  conditions  and 
standards  in  the  industries  from  which  they  indirectly  draw 
their  income,  how  much  more  are  they  obligated  to  put  social 
justice  into  the  industry  they  directly  control! 

IV 

A  Continental  economist  declares  that  the  family  is  the 
training  school  of  morals.  If  the  family  is  not  saved  from 
moral  destruction,  the  community  has  no  hope  of  survival. 
The  family  must  in  the  end  bear  the  result  of  all  the  immor- 
ality which  the  community  permits  and  the  individual  practices. 
This  reveals  a  vicious  circle.  If  the  community  permits  con- 
ditions that  destroy  the  family,  the  family  will  destroy  the 
community  at  the  source.  Give  the  family  a  chance,  let  it 
become  the  training  school  and  it  will  save  the  community 

27 


[II-s]      CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

from  the  breakdown  of  vice  and  crime.  But  the  family  must 
be  first  of  all  protected  against  sex  immorality,  for  this  is  the 
fundamental  sin  that  destroys  the  life  of  the  community  root 
and  branch.  This  is  the  reason  why  Christianity  must  wipe 
out  a  red  light  district  where  college  men  are  "initiated"  and 
change  a  system  which  wrings  from  a  Moslem  boy  the  cry: 
"What  chance  have  I  for  purity  of  life?  My  father  has  one 
hundred  and  three  wives  and  concubines." 

The  prevalence  of  sex  immorality  is  one  of  the  manifest 
signs  of  decadence  in  modern  community  life.  Recent  inves- 
tigations here  in  America  show  conditions  almost  past  belief. 
Their  testimony  cannot  be  evaded  or  escaped.  The  records 
of  our  vice  commissions  are  "the  handwriting  upon  the  wall." 
They  recall  what  Paul  wrote  about  the  works  of  the  flesh  in 
the  Roman  Empire,  and  parallel  the  conditions  that  the  mis- 
sionary finds  in  the  Orient.  Alongside  the  facts  are  the 
records  of  results.  The  spread  of  sex  disease,  the  increase 
of  defective  children,  sterility — here  is  the  real  race  suicide ! 

But  the  nation  has  begun  to  grapple  in  dead  earnest  with 
the  sin  of  commercial  vice.  We  are  able  now  to  pass  regula- 
tions wiping  out  segregated  districts,  to  develop  campaigns  of 
sex  education,  to  proceed  perhaps  to  quarantine  sex  diseases, 
but  how  shall  the  personal  standards  of  men  and  women  be 
reached  and  changed?  In  certain  of  our  own  intellectual 
circles,  theories  of  free  love  are  bandied  to  and  fro  upon  the 
lips  of  callow  youth,  as  though  they  were  a  sign  of  emancipa- 
tion, instead  of  a  sign  of  utter  weakness  and  bondage.  What 
an  immeasurable  tragedy  if  woman,  emancipated  from  sex 
servitude  and  economic  dependence,  should  lead  man  with  her 
along  the  path  of  imaginary  freedom  into  the  old  bondage  of 
sex  sins  !  One  has  only  to  recall  the  lot  of  woman  and  chil- 
dren under  systems  of  polygamy  and  promiscuity  to  see  how 
stern  is  the  choice  if  racial  purity  is  to  be  preserved.  The 
straight  path  of  the  single  standard  of  morals — the  Christian 
ideal  of  purity — is  the  only  safety  for  the  race.  Christianity 
must  now  save  the  family  as  it  saved  it  once  before  in  the 
Roman  world. 

28 


THE  FAMILY  AT  THE  CENTER  [lis] 


The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  this :  The  Christian 
ideal  of  the  family  must  be  realized  throughout  the  whole 
community  the  world  around.  The  time  was  when  the  home 
was  the  conscious  center  of  religion.  Family  worship  in  count- 
less homes  was  a  great  reality.  The  early  strength  of  the 
American  nation  traced  back  to  the  devout  simplicity  of  its 
home  life.  At  the  center  of  its  power  was  the  sense  of  rever- 
ence. In  overcoming  the  evils  that  developed  from  prudish 
ignorance  of  sex  matters,  have  we  fallen  into  a  flippancy  that 
destroys  the  sense  of  reverence  and  increases  immorality  and 
divorce? 

There  will  be  little  appeal,  however,  in  the  proclamation  of 
a  family  ideal  for  its  own  sake.  The  real  reason  for  having 
a  Christianized  family  is  because  it  may  become  the  great 
regenerating  force  to  Christianize  the  community  life.  It  is 
the  fulcrum  of  social  Christianity.  This  is  the  challenge  of  the 
Christian  family  ideal  to  college  men  and  women :  that  they 
shall  approach  the  marriage  relationship,  the  inner  sanctuary 
of  the  temple  of  life,  in  reverent  awe;  that  they  shall  dedi- 
cate themselves  to  the  creation  of  a  holy  family,  to  the 
development  of  creative  lives  which  shall  count  for  the  Com- 
monwealth of  God. 

Suggestions  for  Discussion  and  Action 

(Note — There  is  more  material  suggested  under  Sugges- 
tions for  Discussion  and  Action  in  each  chapter  than  can 
possibly  be  covered  in  the  group  hour.  The  leader  of  the 
group,  in  mapping  out  the  work  of  the  hour,  should  select  for 
attention  those  parts  which  are  of  most  moment  to  the  group.) 

I.    Home  Conditions 

Think  over  in  advance  for  the  particular  community  selected 
the  conditions  of  family  life  in  a  number  of  typical  homes 
which  are  representative  of  varying  economic  levels.  Espe- 
cially valuable  material  can  be  secured  on  family  life  in 
Moslem  lands,  and  in  many  Oriental  countries. 

29 


[II-s]      CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

1.  In  how  many  does  home  life  appear  to  be  normal  and 
happy?  What  factors  do  we  consider  indispensable  to  make 
them  so? 

2.  What  proportion  of  these  homes  are  providing  suc- 
cessful family  life  in  spite  of  heavy  handicaps?  What 
handicaps  do  we  discover  under  which  it  is  unfair  to  expect 
any  family  to  work  out  a  successful  family  life? 

II.  Housing  and  Happy  Homes 

1.  How  much  overcrowding  and  bad  sanitation  are  there 
in  the  housing  of  the  college  town?  Compare  these  condi- 
tions with  the  various  communities  represented  in  the  group, 
with  those  in  city  tenements  and  tenant  farm  houses,  with 
those  in  some  particular  mission  lands. 

2.  Trace  the  effects  of  house  crowding  on  the  morality 
of  the  members  of  the  home. 

3.  What  are  the  local  housing  ordinances?  How  far 
do  they  ensure  proper  spacing,  light,  air,  safety,  and  sanita- 
tion? What  provision  is  there  for  inspection  and  enforce- 
ment? How  difficult  is  it  for  a  family  in  our  commu- 
nities to  own  their  own  home? 

4.  What  can  we  do  to  secure  better  housing  in  our  com- 
munities? What  effects  do  Christian  missions  have  on  hous- 
ing conditions  abroad? 

III.  Household  Management  and  Happy  Homes 

1.  How  does  household  management  compare  in  diffi- 
culty with  business  management?  Do  the  same  causes  of 
success  and  failure  operate  in  both? 

2.  What  are  the  comparative  difficulties  of  training  chil- 
dren in  the  home  and  in  the  school?  Ought  a  certificate  of 
efficiency  to  be  demanded  of  intending  heads  of  households 
comparable  to  that  demanded  of  prospective  teachers? 

3.  Are  courses  in  household  economics  and  household 
arts  given  in  our  public  schools?  Are  they  practical?  How 
does  the  amount  of  preparation  given  in  our  colleges  for 

30 


THE  FAMILY  AT  THE  CENTER  [Us] 

carrying  on  successful  homes  compare  with  that  for  teach- 
ing and  the  other  professions? 

4.  How  can  bad  household  management  and  inadequate 
care  of  children  be  prevented?  What  share  must  the 
husband  take  in  home  management  more  than  to  be  the 
"provider"? 

5.  Why  are  effective  household  arrangements  so  difficult 
in  non-Christian  lands? 

IV.  Morals  and  Happy  Homes 

1.  How  far  is  extravagance  wrecking  the  home  life  in 
our  town?  Are  the  standards  of  hving  and  the  social  life 
of  our  college  on  a  grade  of  extravagance  which  would 
wreck  the  homes  from  which  students  come?  which  would 
imperil  their  future  homes  if  continued? 

2.  How  far  is  the  double  standard  of  morals  wrecking 
home  life  in  our  town?  What  is  the  prevalent  college  atti- 
tude toward  loose  talk  and  vulgar  stories  which  undermine 
home  life?  toward  lax  and  "Bohemian"  relationships? 
toward  the  double  standard? 

3.  What  elements  in  the  family  life  of  Moslem  lands  are 
inherently  immoral  from  the  Christian  point  of  view? 

V.  What  Makes  a  Happy  Home?   ' 

1.  What  transformation  does  Christianity  work  in  the 
family  life  of  non-Christian  lands? 

2.  What  real  differences  does  Christianity  make  in  home 
life  in  America? 


31 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  CHILD  IN  THE  MIDST 

The  child  is  the  reason  for  the  family,  that  life  may  be  per- 
petuated. This  is  why  the  community  must  protect  the  family. 
In  childhood  lie  hidden  all  the  possibilities  for  the  improve- 
ment of  mankind. 

You  may  be  Christ  or  Shakespeare,  little  child, 
A  savior  or  a  sun  to  the  lost  world — 
There  is  no  babe  born  but  may  carry  furled 
Strength  to  make  bloom  the  world's  disastrous  wild! 
O  what  then  must  our  labors  be  to  mold  you, 
To  open  the  heart,  to  build  with  dream  the  brain, 
To  strengthen  the  young  soul  in  toil  and  pain, 
Till  our  age-aching  hands  no  longer  hold  you. 

— James  Oppenheim. 

"He  is  the  future,  sitting  there  as  a  guest  at  our  table,"  a 
mother  said  of  her  young  son.  "What  we  want  the  future  to 
become  we  must  put  into  him."  With  something  of  the  same 
awe  must  the  community  look  upon  the  child,  for  childhood  is 
ever  the  new  material  for  the  Commonwealth  of  God.  Of 
what  else  shall  it  be  built?  We  have  no  other  stuff  wherewith 
to  make  it.     "Of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

Daily  Meditations 

First  Day  :  Look  at  the  Boys  and  Girls 

Blessed  is  every  one  that  feareth  Jehovah, 

That  walketh  in  his  ways. 

For  thou  shalt  eat  the  labor  of  thy  hands : 

Happy  shalt  thou  be,  and  it  shall  be  well  with  thee. 

Thy  wife  shall  be  as  a  fruitful  vine. 

In  the  innermost  parts  of  thy  house; 

Thy  children  like  olive  plants. 

Round  about  thy  table. 

32      • 


THE  CHILD  IN  THE  MIDST  [111-2] 

Behold,  thus  shall  the  man  be  blessed 

That  feareth  Jehovah. 

Jehovah  bless  thee  out  of  Zion: 

And  see  thou  the  good  of  Jerusalem  all  the  days  of  thy 

life. 
Yea,  see  thou  thy  children's  children. 
Peace  be  upon  Israel. — Psalm  128. 

This  ancient  picture  of  the  old-fashioned  family  is  as  fresh 
as  on  the  day  it  was  written.  It  was  not  drawn  from  a  land 
of  one  and  two-child  families.  See  the  boys  and  girls  sitting 
there  "like  olive  plants  round  about  thy  table !"  How  would 
the  picture  fit  into  our  modern  apartments  and  tenements? 
One  of  the  deepest  joys  of  life  comes  with  one's  own  children, 
blood  of  our  blood  and  flesh  of  our  flesh.  This  is  not  a  selfish 
joy.  The  community  depends  upon  it — lives  by  it.  Is  it  not 
then  an  unpardonable  community  sin  that  any  group  of  people 
should  be  deprived  of  the  possibility  of  children?  Is  it  not  a 
deeper  sin  that  some  should  deprive  themselves  of  this  price- 
less privilege?  Do  we  look  forward  to  the  joy  of  having  our 
own  children  with  reverent  anticipation?  Are  we  fit  for  it? 
Has  the  community  not  a  right  to  ask  us  this  question?  To 
what  extent  is  the  adoption  of  children  by  childless  couples 
to  be  urged  as  a  social  obligation? 

Second  Day:   The  Child  Is  in  the  Midst 

Lo,  children  are  a  heritage  of  Jehovah; 
And  the  fruit  of  the  womb  is  his  reward. 
As  arrows  in  the  hand  of  a  mighty  man, 
So  are  the  children  of  youth. 

Happy  is  the  man  that  hath  his  quiver  full  of  them. 

—Psalm  127:  3-5. 

And  he  called  to  him  a  little  child,  and  set  him  in 
the  midst  of  them. — Matt.  18:  2. 

Study  Jesus'  attitude  to  little  children. — Matt.   18: 
1-6. 

In  youth  life  is  likely  to  be  self-centered,  but  with  parent- 
hood great  changes  come  and  gradually  the  child  occupies  the 
very  center  of  experience.     The  whole   family  centers  itself 

2>2> 


[III-3]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

around  the  needs  of  the  developing  children.  The  missionary 
everywhere  has  given  large  attention  to  the  training  of  chil- 
dren. The  marked  contrast  between  the  children  on  the 
street  and  those  in  the  mission  school,  the  place  the  graduates 
of  these  schools  take  in  the  new  life  of  these  nations,  is  evi- 
dence of  the  transformations  possible  through  such  effort. 

As  Christianity  all  over  the  world  develops  the  community 
into  a  larger  family,  great  movements  for  child  welfare  grow 
up.  Here  is  the  point  of  power.  If  our  city  councils  and  legis- 
lative bodies  would  focus  their  attention  upon  the  child,  what 
effect  would  it  have  upon  the  development  of  the  city  and  the 
nation? 

Third  Day  :  The  Child  Gentles  all  Community  Life 

And  the  wolf  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the 
leopard  shall  lie  down  with  the  kid ;  and  the  calf  and 
the  young  lion  and  the  fatling  together;  and  a  little 
child  shall  lead  them.  And  the  cow  and  the  bear  shall 
feed ;  their  young  ones  shall  lie  down  together ;  and 
the  lion  shall  eat  straw  like  the  ox.  And  the  suck- 
ing child  shall  play  on  the  hole  of  the  asp,  and  the 
weaned  child  shall  put  his  hand  on  the  adder's  den. 
They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy  moun- 
tain; for  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of 
Jehovah,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. — Isa.  ii  :  6-9. 

A  group  of  college  men  were  going  one  night  through 
Chinatown  in  New  York  City.  Secret  passages  were  being 
pointed  out  which  entered  into  gambling  dens  and  opium 
joints.  A  bullet  hole  marked  the  wall  in  a  dark  arcade  where 
a  Tong  battle  had  been  fought.  Suddenly,  as  the  group 
emerged  on  the  street,  two  small  Chinese  children  in  native 
dress  were  found,  playing  on  the  sidewalk,  while  their  father 
placidly  smoked  his  pipe  in  the  warm  air  of  the  summer 
evening.  Every  man  in  the  group  was  caught  and  held  by 
the  contrast.  The  child  gentles  even  the  roughest  life.  Mrs. 
Browning  makes  one  of  her  hardest  characters  say : 

34 


THE  CHILD  IN  THE  MIDST  [III-4] 

"Go  it,  Jim, 
"I'm  a  tender  soul; 
I  never  banged  a  child  at  two  years  old 
And  drew  blood  from  him,  but  I  sobbed  for  it 
Next  moment — and  I've  had  a  plague  of  seven. 
I'm  tender;  I've  no  stomach  even  for  beef. 
Until  I  know  about  the  girl  that's  lost. 
That's  killed,  mayhap." 

— E.  B.  Browning,  "Aurora  Leigh." 

How  many  evil  things  even  the  worst  men  would  not  do 
before  a  child.  In  the  childless  'camps  of  the  miners,  the 
lumberjacks,  the  construction  workers,  life  often  sinks  to  its 
lowest  level,  but  instantly  when  a  child  comes  it  rises.  Bret 
Harte  achieved  sudden  fame  by  writing  this  truth  into  "The 
Luck  of  Roaring  Camp," 

The  power  of  the  child  to  refine  the  life  of  grown-ups 
reaches  far  into  governm.ent  and  industry.  Some  of  our 
most  effective  social  movements  today — the  attack  on  infant 
mortality,  the  crusade  against  child  labor,  the  recreation  move- 
ment— are  undertaken  for  the  sake  of  the  children.  They 
all  show  the  hand  of  the  child  reaching  out  from  the  family 
group  to  bless  the  whole  community,  to  humanize  our  com- 
mon life. 

Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  hast  thou 

established  strength. 
Because  of  thine  adversaries, 

That  thou  mightest  still  the  enemy  and  the  avenger. 

—Psalm  8:  2. 

Fourth  Day:  The  Protection  of  Children  the  Primary  Duty 

Then  Herod,  when  he  saw  that  he  was  mocked  of 
the  Wise-men,  was  exceeding  wroth,  and  sent  forth, 
and  slew  all  the  male  children  that  were  in  Bethlehem, 
and  in  all  the  borders  thereof,  from  two  years  old  and 
under,  according  to  the  time  which  he  had  exactly 
learned  of  the  Wise-men, — Matt,  2:  16. 

But  whoso  shall  cause  one  of  these  little  ones  that 
believe  on  me  to  stumble,  it  is  profitable  for  him  that 

25 


[III-5]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

a  great  millstone  should  be  hanged  about  his  neck, 
and  that  he  should  be  sunk  in  the  depth  of  the  sea. 
.  .  .  See  that  ye  despise  not  one  of  these  little 
ones :  for  I  say  unto  you,  that  in  heaven  their  angels 
do  always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father  who  is  in 
heaven. — Matt.  i8:  6,  lo. 

A  recent  cartoon  shows  a  small  girl  coming  out  of  a  city 
alley.  About  the  entrance  lurks  a  throng  of  evil  creatures — 
vice,  disease,  imbecility,  tuberculosis,  drink,  poverty,  cruelty, 
dissipation.  The  inscription  reads  "Give  the  Child  a  Chance." 
If  this  is  a  true  picture,  what  is  the  social  effectiveness  of 
religion  in  that  community?  Is  there  no  modern  slaughter 
of  the  Innocents  to  compare  with  that  of  Herod?  Animals 
will  fight  to  the  death  for  their  young,  and  the  higher  groups 
protect  their  young  in  organized  fashion.  Do  we  know  any 
community  which  is  protecting  its  youth  against  the  powers 
that  prey  upon  them,  as  effectively  as  a  herd  of  bison  formed 
in  a  circle  will  protect  its  calves  against  a  pack  of  wolves? 
How  does  Jesus'  condemnation  apply  to  those  who  make 
profit  off  the  weak  lives  of  youth  in  the  underpaid  industries, 
to  those  who  make  income  out  of  houses  where  children  rot 
away  to  death?  How  about  those  who  make  high  profit  off 
the  food  supply,  which  means  poor  living  for  the  common 
people? 

Fifth  Day:  Guided  Play  Is  Childhood's  Great  Vocation 

They  are  like  unto  children  that  sit  in  the  market- 
place, and  call  one  to  another;  who  say,  We  piped 
unto  you,  and  ye  did  not  dance ;  we  wailed,  and  ye  did 
not  weep. — Luke  7 :  32. 

And  the  streets  of  the  city  shall  be  full  of  boys  and 
girls  playing  in  the  streets  thereof. — Zech.  8 :  5. 

Zechariah  knew  too  well  the  desolation  of  a  childless  city. 
Pestilence  and  famine  had  stalked  through  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem,  taking  their  toll  of  little  ones.  The  prophet  looks 
forward  to  the  city  that  some  day  shall  be,  and  sees  at  the 
center  of  it  the  joy  and  laughter  of  playing  children. 

36 


"      THE  CHILD  IN  THE  MIDST  [III-6] 

"What  is  it  about  these  children  that  bothers  me  so?  There 
is  something  gone  out  of  their  faces,"  said  a  college  man 
spending  his  first  summer  among  the  poor  children  on  the 
East  Side  of  New  York  City.  Was  it  that  age  had  come  to 
them  before  their  time,  because  they  had  lost  the  normal 
opportunity  for  play-life?  When  country  people  move  to  the 
city  the  first  thing  they  are  forced  to  give  up  is  room  outdoors 
for  their  children  to  play.  There  can  be  no  city  of  righteous- 
ness that  does  not  provide  play  for  its  children.  Ten  thousand 
cases  in  the  juvenile  court  of  one  great  city  showed  that  by 
far  the  larger  number  came  from  neighborhoods  where  there 
was  no  organized  recreation, — the  homes  too  weak  and  the 
church  too  poor  to  provide  it.  The  city  was  allowing  the 
instinct  for  play — the  great  constructive  force  of  childhood— 
to  be  turned  aside  to  its  destruction  in  commercial  amuse- 
ment and  in  perverted  forms  of  pleasure.  Here  is  a  chal- 
lenge to  the  Christian  forces  of  the  community. 

Sixth  Day:  Growth  Results 

The  earth  beareth  fruit  of  herself;  first  the  blade, 
then  the  ear,  then  the  full  grain  in  the  ear. — Mark 
4:28. 

And  Jesus  advanced  in  wisdom  and  stature,  and  in 
favor  with  God  and  men. — Luke  2 :  52. 

One  of  the  tragedies  of  modern  life  is  the  arrested  develop- 
ment of  youth.  Is  it  confined  to  the  cities  alone?  In  the 
countryside,  do  the  children  of  the  farmers  struggling  with 
poor  land,  or  those  of  hired  hands,  achieve  the  possibilities 
of  normal  childhood?  The  industrial  city  likewise  lays  a 
repressive  hand  upon  the  growth  of  children.  In  its  worst 
sections  children  have  a  dwarfed  and  stunted  life.  Investiga- 
tion shows  that  at  the  age  of  thirteen  the  children  of  the  well- 
paid  workers  in  one  industry  weigh  eleven  pounds  more,  and 
average  three  inches  taller,  than  the  children  of  the  unskilled, 
low-grade  workers  in  the  same  trade.  Labor  will  not  long 
consent  to  endure  these  handicaps.  The  iron  is  entering  its 
soul;  its  mind  is  awakening.    Said  an  old  cotton  mill  worker 

37 


[I1I-7]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

to  a  young  man  who  was  leaving  the  mill  to  go  into  the 
ministry :  "You  will  have  a  chance  to  tell  the  people.  Tell 
them  how  we  have  to  live.  Maybe  you  can  help  us  to  find  a 
way  out,  for,  if  there  is  no  way  out,  I  would  rather  strangle 
my  kids  than  have  them  go  through  what  I  have  gone 
through." 

What  do  the  children  of  India  most  need?  "Childhood 
itself,"  answered  the  young  teacher  home  on  her  first  furlough. 
In  China,  a  boy  frequently  begins  work  with  his  father  at  six. 
In  Moslem  lands,  child  marriage  is  widely  prevalent.  What 
chance  have  children  under  such  conditions  for  normal 
development? 

Seventh  Day  :  The  Child  Reveals  Religion's  Heart 

And  they  were  bringing  unto  him  little  children,  that 
he  should  touch  them :  and  the  disciples  rebuked  them. 
But  when  Jesus  saw  it,  he  was  moved  with  indigna- 
tion, and  said  unto  them.  Suffer  the  little  children  to 
come  unto  me ;  forbid  them  not :  for  to  such  belongeth 
the  kingdom  of  God.  .  .  .  And  he  took  them  in  his 
arms,  and  blessed  them,  laying  his  hands  upon  them. 
— Mark  lo:  13,  14,  16. 

A  two-year  old  girl  was  taken  by  the  authorities  from  a 
drunken  mother  in  a  house  of  prostitution.  Her  childish 
prattle  already  spoke  the  phrases  of  the  underworld.  What 
a  revelation  of  community  life  |  Those  who  found  her  cried 
out  in  wrath  at  such  a  violation  of  the  sacredness  of  child- 
hood. If  a  great  audience  of  citizens  could  listen  to  her,  would 
it  not  be  a  more  effective  condemnation  than  any  scathing 
denunciation?  Would  it  not  stir  to  action  more  quickly  than 
all  our  scientific  surveys? 

"Out  of  the  mouth  of  babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast  per- 
fected praise."  The  talk  of  children  is  an  unconscious  revela- 
tion of  the  family  and  the  community.  They  speak  out  the 
real  standards.  They  reveal  the  real  forces.  Trust  them  to 
recognize  religious  reality  in  life. 

"Where  is  the  University  of  Chicago  Settlement?"  a  visitor 
38 


.   THE  CHILD  IN  THE  MIDST  [III-s] 

asked  a  child  playing  on  the  street  within  a  block  of  it,  but 
the  child  had  never  heard  of  a  place  with  such  a  name. 
"Where  does  Mary  McDowell  live?"  and  at  once  the  child's 
face  lit  up.  "Come  with  me,  I  can  show  you."  Are  we 
willing  to  have  our  life  and  religion  reproduced  in  the  chil- 
dren of  our  neighborhood?  The  children  reveal  the  heart  of 
religion;  they  lead  the  way  to  the  inner  shrine.  What  path 
leads  into  the  city  of  God  save  that  of  becoming  as  little  chil- 
dren in  simplicity  and  faith? 

Study  for  the  Week 


"The  children,  they  are  all  of  it,"  cried  the  Polish  miner, 
whose  children  were  threatened  with  death  from  an  epidemic 
due  to  the  neglect  of  the  politician  for  whom  he  had  voted. 
Childhood  largely  determines  whether  adult  life  shall  be  an 
asset  or  a  liability.  If  the  community  fails  to  protect  and 
develop  the  children  of  this  immigrant  miner  and  his  fellows, 
who  can  count  the  loss? 

There  is  an  old  Persian  proverb  which  says,  "When  one 
child  cries  in  the  dark,  the  throne  of  God  rocks  from  side  to 
side."  It  declares  that  the  neglect  of  injured  childhood  shakes 
the  foundations  of  the  universe 

Our  modern  Child  Welfare  Movement  is  a  striking  trib- 
ute to  the  place  given  children.  At  this  point  Jesus'  great 
principle  of  the  sacredness  of  personality  has  come  to  its 
clearest  expression.  Yet  the  Christian  family  and  the  organ- 
ized Child  Welfare  Movement  are  both  challenged  to  exert 
their  utmost  power,  because  they  continually  come  face  to  face 
with  great  forces  that  operate  for  the  destruction  of  child- 
hood. They  find  the  community  not  yet  organized  for  the 
child.  Indeed  in  some  aspects  of  its  life  it  is  organized  against 
the  child.  The  two  fundamental  relationships  of  the  com- 
munity are  those  of  sex  and  property.  Are  these  organized 
for  the  sake  of  the  children  or  against  them? 

All  the  homes   of  the  community  stand  or  fall  together. 

39 


[III-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

A  child  of  the  American  Consul  in  Bombay  died  of  bubonic 
plague.  Infantile  paralysis  smites  both  rich  and  poor.  If  the 
children  of  the  weak  are  subjected  to  the  solicitations  of  vice, 
immoral  contagion  brushes  by  the  barriers  of  the  Christian 
family  and  touches  its  children.  Our  urgent  task  is  to  remove 
the  forces  that  make  for  the  destruction  of  child  life  every- 
where. 

II 

The  first  duty  of  the  community  is  to  keep  its  children  alive. 
The  test  of  its  efficiency  is  its  ability  to  care  for  its  young. 
Christianity  intensifies  the  demand  for  efficiency  and  heightens 
the  conscience  of  the  community.  It  abolishes  infanticide. 
Yet  in  the  United  States  there  are  each  year  one  hundred 
thousand  needless  infant  deaths.  They  come  from  causes 
which  are  preventable.  This  heavy  infant  mortality  registers 
the  breakdown  both  of  the  home  and  of  the  community.  It 
likewise  registers  the  breakdown  of  national  life  in  those 
lands  where  estimates  place  the  infant  mortality  as  high  as 
fifty  to  eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  births. 

The  distribution  of  the  infant  death  rate  flings  still  another 
moral  challenge  to  the  Christian  conscience  of  America.  It 
is  to  the  tenement  districts  that  the  white  hearse  comes  the 
most  frequently.  There  are  blocks  in  New  York  from  whose 
streets  it  is  never  absent  in  the  summer  time.  Why  should 
one  ward  in  the  city  or  one  nation  show  twice  the  infant  death 
rate  of  another?  The  children  who  are  born  in  those  families 
which  can  live  in  four  rooms,  have  almost  twice  as  much 
chance  for  life  as  those  who  must  live  in  one  room.  The 
immigrant  and  the  negro  pay  a  heavier  toll  to  infant  mortality 
than  the  rest  of  our  population.  In  such  a  situation  the 
Christian  conscience  cannot  satisfy  itself  with  reading  the 
burial  service  about  its  pleasing  "Almighty  God  in  His  wise 
providence  to  take  out  of  the  world  the  soul  of  the  departed." 
It  must  search  away  in  back  for  the  causes  that  take  children 
in  successive  years  from  the  same  family  to  the  graveyard. 
On  the  surface  there  is  the  exposure  of  child  life  to  unsanitary 

40 


THE  CHILD  IN  THE  MIDST  [Ills] 

conditions,  to  the  unclean  streets  and  alleys,  to  the  dampness 
and  dirt  of  foul  living  quarters.  Underneath  the  surface 
there  is  the  lack  of  proper  nourishment  and  care,  the  enfee- 
bling of  motherhood  by  improper  labor,  the  greed  that  forces 
the  workers  to  work  for  less  than  living  wages  and  to  live  in 
bad  houses,  because  profit  comes  out  of  it. 

The  path  of  progress  is  clear.  When  the  family  fails  and 
the  child  is  orphaned,  the  community  in  some  manner  becomes 
the  family.  It  finds  a  home  or  it  provides  an  institution.  In 
the  same  way  it  has  extended  the  functions  of  the  home  over 
other  needs  of  childhood.  It  developed  fresh-air  work  to 
overcome  the  crowding  and  bad  air  of  the  tenement;  day  nurs- 
eries to  take  the  place  of  the  care  of  the  working  mother; 
district  nursing  to  supplement  deficient  home  care ;  guided 
recreation  to  supply  the  lack  of  the  father's  ability  to  share 
in  the  life  of  childhood;  public  baths  to  supply  the  lack  of 
such  facilities  in  the  home.  It  has  become  an  established 
matter  of  social  procedure  that  the  community  shall  supply 
the  depleted  resources  of  the  child's  life. 

But  these  efforts  finally  reach  a  barrier.  The  improvement 
of  the  family  life  becomes  impossible  beyond  a  certain  point 
without  the  change  of  economic  conditions.  There  must  be 
an  increase  of  income.  The  fatal  fundamental  fact  in  unde- 
veloped childhood  is  the  lack  of  adequate  nourishment.  It  is 
in  the  last  analysis  a  question  of  food  supply.  This  is  not  to 
be  met  simply  by  free  lunches  in  the  school  room — the  com- 
munity cannot  flinch  from  the  underlying  economic  issue. 
Ultimately  its  family  care  will  have  to  be  extended  to  this 
point  also.  The  community  will  have  to  find  a  way  to  provide 
income  for  all  families  adequate  for  the  proper  nourishment 
of  children.  This  is  clearly  a  task  in  which  woman  must  take 
a  large  part.  Through  all  the  ages  she  has  guided  and  cared 
for  the  strengthening  and  development  of  youth  in  the  home. 
Now  it  is  her  task  to  help  in  ordering  the  community  life, 
that  the  standards  which  she  has  been  able  to  work  out  at 
home  through  her  intelligence  ?nd  efficiency  shall  become  the 
recognized  rule  of  the  community  life. 

41 


[III-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

III 

In  front  of  a  factory  in  New  York  City,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord,  1916,  the  sign  said  "Small  girls  wanted."  If  some 
antiquarian  of  the  year  5000  A.  D.  discovers  a  sign  like  that, 
and  transcribes  it,  where  will  he  class  us  morally?  If  New 
York  were  a  Christian  community  that  sign  would  hang  there 
till  doomsday  and  never  a  little  girl  would  be  allowed  to 
answer  it. 

One  test  of  the  efficiency  of  our  modern  Christianity  is 
whether  it  can  prevent  the  recurrence  of  the  economic  ex- 
ploitation of  childhood  as  our  western  industry  enters  Asia. 
At  an  early  hour  one  morning  in  Shanghai  a  child  was  taken 
ftom  a  cotton  mill  to  the  hospital.  Working  for  twelve  hours 
on  the  night  shift  this  child  of  eight — one  of  many — fell 
asleep  at  his  work  from  utter  exhaustion.  As  his  head  nodded 
it  was  caught  and  mangled  in  the  machinery.  In  the  binderies 
of  a  great  printing  estabhshment  in  China  mothers  and  young 
daughters  work  side  by  side.  Many  of  the  mothers  have 
bound  feet ;  but  not  the  daughters.  Two  great  world  bond- 
ages of  childhood  staiid  there  together.  In  the  very  hour  when 
Chinese  girlhood  was  being  delivered  from  foot-binding,  it  is 
bound  again  by  the  industrial  cruelty  of  child  labor  from  the 
western  world  and  the  vicious  circle  is  complete.  How  can 
Christianity  strike  off  both  shackles  ? 

The  American  people  have  decreed  the  abolition  of  child 
labor,  but  the  task  is  far  from  being  accomplished.  Recent 
investigations  show  children,  hardly  more  than  infants,  pull- 
ing the  heavy  roots  from  the  half-frozen  soil  of  the  beet  fields, 
working  at  night  in  the  canneries,  and  laboring,  inexcusable 
hours  in  the  shrimperies  along  the  coast.  Who  will  emanci- 
pate the  child  workers  on  the  farms,  denied  normal  growth 
and  schooling  by  short-sighted  parents?  The  ideals  of  Jesus 
concerning  child  life  have  no  foothold  yet  in  some  sections 
of  our  community  life.  There  is  a  sharp  clash  between  the 
conception  of  the  child  as  an  economic  asset  and  as  a  spiritual 
possibility. 

42 


•  THE  CHILD  IN  THE  MIDST  [III-sJ 

Child  workers  for  profit  lose  the  land  of  dreams.  Chris- 
tianity must  prolong  still  further  the  period  of  childhood,  that 
its  joys  and  delights  may  contribute  a  larger  portion  of  life. 
How  are  overworked,  undeveloped  children  to  be  emancipated? 
How  much  can  be  done  by  law,  how  much  by  the  development 
in  every  community  of  a  powerful  sentiment  based  on  the 
Christian  ideal? 

IV 

None  of  our  surveys  have  yet  disclosed  any  kind  of  com- 
munity which  protects  all  its  youth  against  the  contagion 
of  evil.  In  the  small  community  it  is  often  the  contact  with 
vicious  adults  that  destroys  purity.  How  shall  the  boy  on  the 
farm  be  protected  from  the  evil  stories  of  the  hired  man? 
In  the  city,  commercialism  advertises  the  road  to  vice  with 
rosy  colors  and  corrupts  and  degrades  the  spirit  of  youth. 
The  community  for  the  most  part  still  permits  the  natural  sex 
curiosity  of  childhood  to  be  answered  by  evil-minded  adults, 
or  to  be  stimulated  by  posters  and  motion  pictures,  by  amuse- 
ment parks,  dance  halls,  and  suggestive  plays.  In  India  the 
family  system  puts  vile  language  on  infant  lips  and  the  Moslem 
harem  surrounds  with  pollution  the  children  of  the  wealthy 
and  powerful. 

But  it  is  in  the  contact  of  play  and  in  the  satisfaction  of 
the  recreational  need  that  the  contagion  of  evil  most  persist- 
ently touches  child  life.  Every  lawful  amusement  for  child- 
hood indoor  and  outdoor  has  been  made  a  means  of  profit, 
and  to  all  of  them  harmful  features  have  been  added  as  a 
result.  This  is  the  second  unpardonable  sin  of  the  com- 
munity against  its  children,  that  it  permits  not  only  its  work 
but  its  play  to  be  a  means  of  profit,  that  it  prostitutes  for 
gain  the  joyous  energies  of  youth  needed  for  its  own  revitaliz- 
ing. The  abuses  of  commercial  recreation  must  be  fought, 
but  the  energy  which  is  necessary  to  maintain  constant  regula- 
tion and  restriction  ought  to  be  set  free  for  a  truly  con- 
structive community  program.  The  community  must  be  led 
to  see  that  play  is  the  great  vocation  of  childhood  and  the 

43 


[III-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

universal  avocation  of  later  life.  The  modern  recreation 
movement,  with  its  parks  and  playgrounds,  its  pageants  and 
festivals,  its  boy  scouts  and  camp  fire  girls,  its  municipal 
centers  with  their  baseball  parks  and  their  lively  games  for 
children,  its  amateur  dramatics  and  holiday  celebrations — 
these  express  our  growing  sense  of  the  sacredness  of  childhood. 

In  Shanghai  there  is  a  playground  provided  by  foreigners 
for  their  children,  and  carefully  fenced  about.  The  play- 
hungry  Chinese  children  crowd  about  to  watch  the  foreign 
children  enjoy  that  which  they  themselves  are  denied.  Yet 
this  denial  is  not  forever.  The  recreation  movement  is  becom- 
ing a  world  movement.  Demonstration  playgrounds  under 
American  auspices  are  being  conducted  in  Calcutta.  Uruguay 
is  appropriating  thousands  of  dollars  for  a  nation-wide  plan 
under  American  guidance.  A  demonstration  playground  in 
Manila  is  growing  into  a  complete  Filipino  system,  with  base- 
ball displacing  cock  fighting  and  gambling.  No  more  welcome 
work  is  being  done  by  the  Christian  Associations  in  foreign 
lands  than  their  development  of  organized  recreation. 

There  is  yet  a  gigantic  battle  to  be  fought  before  all  child- 
hood everywhere  can  have  a  normal,  free  chance  to  play. 
There  are  ancient  prejudices  to  remove.  There  is  the  senseless 
conception,  that  life  is  for  work  alone,  to  be  overthrown.  The 
community  must  see  not  simply  the  educational  value,  but  the 
character  value  of  play.  If  evil  controls  recreation,  the  com- 
munity cannot  save  its  children.  If  the  community  puts  its 
hand  upon  this  greatest  force  in  the  life  of  youth  and  uses  it 
for  their  highest  development,  there  will  be  no  question  about 
its  future.  Here  is  the  natural  path  to  community  service 
for  college  men  and  women,  most  of  whom  have  been  trained 
in  the  discipline  of  recreation,  and  who  are  in  some  way 
fitted  for  play  leadership.  They  know  how  play  leadership 
opens  up  great  values  for  any  life;  how  it  brings  order  and 
cooperation,  discipline  and  endurance,  self  control  and  manly 
growth.  They  have  found  for  their  own  lives  the  religious 
values  in  recreation.  In  what  ways  can  they  pass  them  on  to 
their  community? 

44 


THE  CHILD  IN  THE  MIDST  [III-s] 

V 

The  coming  of  a  child  into  a  home  means  a  spiritual  trans- 
formation. It  brings  new  responsibilities,  new  visions,  new 
outlooks.  The  determination  to  develop  the  spiritual  possi- 
bilities of  a  child's  life  unfolds  new  and  higher  possibilities 
in  the  lives  of  parents.  In  like  manner,  whenever  the  com- 
munity will  consider  its  children  solely  as  material  for  spiritual 
development,  it  will  itself  come  into  a  higher  life.  This  is 
the  path  that  leads  to  the  Commonwealth  of  God. 

Suggestions  for  Discussion  and  Action 

I.  Conditions  of  Child  Life 

1.  What  forces  are  working  actively  against  child  wel- 
fare? Observe  street  influences,  home  conditions,  physical 
dangers,  moral  temptations,  forms  of  children's  work  and 
play. 

2.  What  conditions  are  working  for  child  welfare?  Ob- 
serve parental  care,  play  spaces,  guided  recreation,  educa- 
tional advantages,  moral  influences. 

3.  Estimate  the  probability  of  a  child's  growing  up 
physically  and  morally  sound  under  such  conditions. 

4.  Compare  conditions  working  for  and  against  child 
welfare  in  the  most  favored  sections  with  those  in  poorer 
sections. 

5.  What  are  the  conditions  of  child  life  in  Africa? 
China?  Moslem  lands?  Compare  the  cbances  of  a  child  in 
these  countries  with  his  chances  in  America. 

6.  In  what  ways  do  our  communities  most  outrage  the 
social  principles  of  Jesus  in  their  treatment  of  child  life? 

II.  Responsibility  for  Neglect  of  Children 

Trace  out  in  given  families  as  accurately  as  you  can  how 
far  the  parents  are  directly  responsible  for  bad  conditions, 
and  how  far  these  grow  out  of  forces  for  which  the  com- 
munity is  responsible. 

45 


lIII-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

III.    Improving  Conditions 

1.  What  is  the  worst  condition  for  which  the  community 
is  primarily  responsible? 

(a)  Is  it  communicable  disease,  and  a  high  death  rate? 
If  so,  can  we  locate  the  chief  causes?  How  about  the  milk 
supply?  How  improve  it?  Is  it  contagious  diseases  of  chil- 
dren? How  can  we  help  to  get  rid  of  them?  Do  the  dirtiest 
sections  of  our  town  have  the  highest  death  rate?  How  can 
we  get  the  proper  officials  to  clean  them  up? 

(b)  Is  it  child  labor?  If  so,  how  can  we  bring  to  parents 
and  employers  a  new  conscience  on  the  value  of  life,  and 
of  schooling? 

(c)  Is  it  conditions  of  play?  Where  do  the  children  play? 
What  forms  of  amusement  for  our  children  are  run  for 
profit?  How  large  do  these  bulk  in  the  total  play  life  of  the 
community?  What  is  the  worst  form  of  children's  amuse- 
ment run  for  profit  in  our  community?  Enumerate  the  evil 
effects  which  this  is  having  upon  children.  How  shall  we 
secure  proper  regulation  of  commercial  amusement  enter- 
prises? How  work  for  free  recreation?  What  free  play 
spaces  are  available?  Why  are  they  so  often  vacant  while 
commercial  places  are  crowded?  What  unwholesome  influ- 
ences exist  in  unguided  play?  How  can  we  help  to  secure 
and  carry  out  a  recreation  program? 

2.  What  is  the  worst  condition  in  our  town  for  which 
deficient  homes  are  primarily  responsible?  How  can  the 
community  insure  the  proper  care  of  children  in  such  homes  ? 
Under  what  conditions  should  children  be  removed  from 
such  homes?  How  may  children  without  homes  and 
homes  without  children  be  brought  together? 

3.  What  is  being  done  by  the  missionaries  in  Japan,  India, 
and  the  Philippines  to  deal  with  the  death  rate,  the  child 
labor  situation,  and  the  conditions  of  play  among  children? 
What  is  being  done  by  the  governments  themselves? 

4.  What  transformations  would  take  place  in  our  com- 
munity if  child  welfare  were  really  given  first  place? 

46 


CHAPTER  IV 

TRAINING  FOR  FULL  EFFICIENCY 

The  Christian  values  in  personality  are  potential;  they  have 
to  be  realized.  Development  is  one  of  the  natural  rights.  But 
how  many  today  get  full  development?  Vast  numbers  of 
people  are  conscious  that  they  might  be  greater  than  they  are, 
if  their  powers  were  only  fully  developed.  What  changes 
might  not  be  wrought  out  in  our  communities  if  all  the  per- 
sonalities that  compose  them  were  developed  to  their  full 
capacity !  The  endeavor  to  create  a  Christian  community 
involves  new  values  and  responsibilities  in  education. 

Daily  Meditations 
First  Day:  Fractional  Personalities 

And  he  also  that  had  received  the  one  talent  came 
and  said,  Lord,  I  knew  thee  that  thou  art  a  hard  man, 
reaping  where  thou  didst  not  sow,  and  gathering 
where  thou  didst  not  scatter;  and  I  was  afraid,  and 
went  away  and  hid  thy  talent  in  the  earth :  lo.  thou 
hast  thine  own.  But  his  lord  answered  and  said  unto 
him,  Thou  wicked  and  slothful  servant,  thou  knewest 
that  I  reap  where  I  sowed  not.  and  gather  where  I  did 
not  scatter;  thou  oughtest  therefore  to  have  put  my 
money  to  the  bankers,  and  at  my  coming  I  should  have 
received  back  mine  own  with  interest. — Matt.  25 : 
24-27. 

Recall  the  parable  of  the  talents. — Matt.  25 :  14-30. 

Arrested  development  is  a  universal  community  fact. 
Observe  the  corner  loafers  interested  in  nothing  but  cigarettes 
and  smut.  Out  of  this  crowd  are  developed  the  vagrants  and 
the  criminals.     Of  the  men  applying  for  work  at  one  muni- 

47- 


[IV-2]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

cipal  woodshed,  eighty-six  per  cent  had  never  gone  beyond  the 
fourth  grade  in  education,  and  yet  eighty  per  cent  of  them 
were  American-born  citizens.  The  community  had  doubtless 
sinned  against  them,  but  they  had  also  sinned  against  them- 
selves. They  had  refused  the  opportunities  of  self-develop- 
ment which  might  have  enabled  them  to  overcome  the  pres- 
sure of  the  community  upon  them.  These  undeveloped  frac- 
tional lives  are  defectives  just  as  truly  as  the  cripples  or  the 
blind.  If  we  have  any  faith  in  Jesus'  declaration  of  the 
possibility  of  ordinary  life,  we  are  face  to  face  here  with  a 
tragedy  which  must  be  overcome. 

A  young  minister  interested  the  boys  of  his  village  in  a 
magazine  club.  It  developed  later  into  a  reading  room  with 
interests  leading  their  lives  to  higher  levels.  Another  com- 
munity worker  recently  found  a  Christian  Association  secre- 
tary and  a  newspaper  reporter  who  had  belonged  to  clubs 
that  he  had  organized  in  former  years  in  tenement  neighbor- 
hoods. A  missionary  in  Liberia  rescued  a  little  girl  from 
domestic  slavery.  Later  this  child,  grown  to  young  woman- 
hood, was  graduated  from  an  American  college  and  returned 
to  lead  in  the  education  of  her  people.  Whom  are  we  helping 
to  get  an  education? 

Second  Day:  Wisdom  the  End  of  All  Education 

Doth  not  wisdom  cry, 
And  understanding  put  forth  her  voice? 
On  the  top  of  high  places  by  the  way, 
Where  the  paths  meet,  she  standeth; 
Beside  the  gates,  at  the  entry  of  the  city. 
At  the  coming  in  at  the  doors,  she  crieth  aloud : 
Unto  you,  O  men,  I  call ; 
And  my  voice  is  to  the  sons  of  men.    ... 
Receive  my  instruction,  and  not  silver; 
And  knowledge  rather  than  choice  gold. 
For  wisdom  is  better  than  rubies ; 
And  all  the  things  that  may  be  desired  are  not  to  be 
compared  unto  it. — Prov.  8:  1-4;  10,  11. 
Read  this  great  Song  of  Wisdom. — Prov.  8:  1-36. 

48 


TRAINING  FOR  FULL  EFFICIENCY       [IV-3] 

When  Charles  Kingsley  closed  his  course  of  lectures  on  his- 
tory at  Cambridge  University,  he  said:  "Now,  young  gentle- 
men, I  have  done,  and  if  I  have  taught  you  that  right  and 
wrong  are  rewarded  and  punished  in  this  world  as  well  as 
the  next,  I  shall  have  done  more  for  you  than  if  I  had 
crammed  your  heads  with  many  dates  and  facts."  Wisdom  is 
more  than  knowledge.  The  education  that  gives  understand- 
ing and  all-round  judgment,  social  vision  and  the  capacity  for 
finding  one's  way  through  the  dark  places  of  life — this  alone 
is  worthy  the  effort  of  an  intelligent  people.  Such  education 
becomes  a  process  of  growth  into  rich  maturity,  releasing  all 
the  abilities,  freeing  the  entire  personality.  Have  we  been 
seeking  that  kind  of  education?    How? 

Third  Day  :  Real  Religion  Vitalises  Education 

The  thief  cometh  not,  but  that  he  may  steal,  and 
kill,  and  destroy :  I  came  that  they  may  have  life,  and 
may  have  it  abundantly. — John  10 :  10. 

Why  is  it  that  religion  has  worked  such  changes  in  indi- 
vidual life?  Is  it  because  a  religious  motive' is  a  compelling 
force  to  set  free  both  the  ambitions  and  abilities  of  a  life? 
The  abundant  life  that  Jesus  came  to  bring  is  something  more 
than  the  culture  of  Greece.  It  means  the  development  of  all 
the  faculties  of  life  to  their  highest  possibility  in  the  service 
of  humanity.  This  purpose  connects  Jesus  directly  with  the 
new  education,  whose  purpose  is  "nothing  short  of  the  ideal 
of  total  personality  at  the  highest  point  of  development." 
When  men  see  this  ideal  they  propagate  it.  Henry  Drum- 
mond  lays  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  a  sleepy  working  lad 
in  the  mission  at  Glasgow  and  bids  him  get  an  education.  That 
boy  becomes  a  speaker  and  writer  of  power.  A  missionary  in 
India  found  a  half-starved  native  boy,  nourished  and  edu- 
cated him ;  that  boy  became  a  perfect  specimen  of  physical 
development  and  took  a  university  degree  granted  to  only 
three  men  in  India.  Now  he  gives  his  life  to  the  emancipation 
and  development  of  his   fellow  natives.     In  both  ways  does 

49 


[IV-4]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

the  Christian  motive  work,   inciting  higher  self -development 
and  investing  that  development  in  the  service  of  others. 

Fourth  Day  :  Shall  Education  Blight  Sympathy? 

I  thank  thee,  that  I  am  not  as  the  rest  of  men. — Luke 
i8:  II. 

Am  I  a  Pharisee  or  a  publican?  Read  Luke  i8: 
9-14. 

A  prominent  business  man,  a  university  graduate  whose 
father  was  a  carpenter,  carefully  evades  all  manual  labor  and 
no  longer  believes  in  democracy.  A  Christian  minister  thinks 
that  immigrants  cannot  be  trusted  with  citizenship.  The  best 
that  we  can  do  for  them,  he  says,  is  to  help  them  with  wel- 
fare work,  and  keep  them  "in  their  place." 

A  prominent  ecclesiastic,  who  in  childhood  was  familiar 
with  the  hard  labor  of  the  farm,  has  been  so  long  secluded  in 
the  culture  of  the  library  that  now  he  has  only  harsh  and 
ignorant  words  for  the  struggles  of  the  workers.  Said  a 
workingman,  a  friend  of  his  youth,  who  recently  heard  him 
speak:  "My  God,  has  he  paid  that  price?"  For  such  a  man 
it  is  only  a  step  to  the  belief  that  the  workers  must  ever  be 
but  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water,  permanently 
inferior.  It  is  only  another  step,  to  the  attitude  that  says, 
"I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not  as  other  men."  Who  would  not 
rather  say  with  Abraham  Lincoln,  "God  must  love  the  common 
people — He  made  so  many  of  them." 

Fifth  Day  :  The  Roots  of  IneMciency 

No  man  careth  for  my  soul. — Psalm  142 :  4. 

Incapable  John,  whether  he  lives  in  the  city  or  the  country- 
side, is  a  burden  to  the  community.  He  is  constantly  out  of 
work,  and  his  family  must  be  kept  in  food  and  clothing  by 
the  neighbors.  They  will  grow  up  to  be  more  inefficient  and 
sickly  than  John  himself. 

John  was  born  of  a  mother  who  was  too  tired  to  give  him 

50 


TRAINING  FOR  FULL  EFFICIENCY       [IV-6] 

strength.  The  family  income  was  never  sufficient  to  provide 
his  body  with  proper  nourishment.  When  he  went  to  school 
.somehow  his  head  would  not  work,  and  nobody  examined  him 
for  adenoids  or  under-nourishment.  When  he  left  the  school 
and  went  to  work,  the  job  that  was  given  him  taught  him 
nothing.  It  only  used  up  his  scanty  labor  power  as  rapidly 
as  possible.  Pretty  soon  he  married  Slack  Susan.  She  had  no 
more  preparation  for  home  making  than  he.  She  knew 
nothing  of  household  management. 

Who  is  responsible  for  the  inefficiency  of  Incapable  John 
and  his  family?  Oh,  John,  of  course!  But  the  community 
which  failed  to  provide  the  background,  the  environment,  the 
nourishment  for  efficiency,  the  training,  must  it  not  now  face 
the  penalty  f8r  its  neglect?  Does  it  become  those  who  have 
always  received  the  nourishment  and  training  of  good  homes 
and  schools  to  look  down  with  scorn  on  Incapable  John  and 
his  wife,  to  withdraw  themselves  from  all  relation  to  them? 
How  many  incapables  will  it  take  in  our  community  life  so 
to  weaken  its  foundations  that  it  shall  fall  down  about  our 
heads?  For  what  weakness  of  life  among  the  poor  whom  we 
know  personally  is  the  community  chiefly  responsible? 

Sixth  Day:  How  the  Abundant  Life  May  Come 

The  young  man  saith  unto  him,  All  these  things 
have  I  observed:  what  lack  I  yet?  Jesus  said  unto 
him.  If  thou  wouldest  be  periect,  go,  sell  that  which 
thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have 
treasure  in  heaven :  and  come,  follow  me.  But  when 
the  young  man  heard  the  saying,  he  went  away  sor- 
rowful; for  he  was  one  that  had  great  possessions. — 
Matt.  19:  20-22. 

To  forget  the  ornaments,  whether  of  education  or  wealth, 
and  get  right  in  where  people  live,  is  the  only  way  to  find 
real  abundance  of  life. 

The  practical  man  has  a  great  scorn  for  the  theorist.  The 
young  demonstrator  from  the  agricultural  college  wanted  to 
help  a   farmer  improve  his  run-down  cotton  fields.     "But," 

51 


[IV-7]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

said  the  farmer,  "you  don't  know  nottin'  about  cotton  growing. 
Why,  you  can't  eyen  pick."  Then  the  young  fellow  stripped 
off  his  coat  and  picked  a  row  against  the  farmer  and  his 
son  ^together.  When  he  had  beaten  them  both,  the  farmer 
said :  "Young  man,  you  can  teach  me  any  new  thing  you 
want  to." 

When  the  mission  schools  showed  the  natives  of  Africa  that 
a  carpenter  or  wagon  maker  earned  as  much  in  a  day  as  an 
untrained  laborer  in  a  week;  when  they  demonstrated  that 
the  soil  could  be,  as  the  natives  say,  "kept  young"  by  fertiliza- 
tion, it  dawned  upon  the  African  intellect  that  learning  was 
worth  while. 

Has  the  college  fully  realized  that  vital  social  service  is  the 
laboratory  side  of  education  in  the  humanities';  that  it  joins 
religion  and  education  and  puts  them  both  to  work? 

Seventh  Day:  Unto  the  End! 

If  any  man  would  come  after  me,  let  him  deny 
himself,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me.  For 
whosoever  would  save  his  life  shall  lose  it;  and  who- 
soever shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake  and  the  gospel's 
shall  save  it.  For  what  doth  it  profit  a  man,  to  gain 
the  whole  world,  and  forfeit  his  life? — Mark  8:  34-36. 

The  one  little  glimmer  of  light  in  all  the  blood-stained 
gloom  of  the  battlefield  is  the  fact  that  those  who  die  for  their 
country  often  live  out  the  fulness  of  life  in  one  glorious 
moment.  In  the  mind  of  the  crowd  this  atones  for  a  multitude 
of  sins.  It  is  evidence  of  the  fact  that  those  who  would 
reach  fulness  of  life  must  carry  burdens  to  the  limit  of 
sacrifice.  They  must  pay  the  whole  price.  Jesus  found  the 
more  abundant  life  for  himself  when  he  turned  his  face 
towards  Jerusalem  and  accepted  Calvary.  Wealth  of  per- 
sonahty  comes  in  no  other  way. 

The  Western  world  today  must  choose  between  the  false 
and  the  true  efficiency;  between  the  Greek  and  the  Christian 
ideal  of  education ;  between  a  culture  which  means  super-men 
lording  it  over  the  universe  and  one  that  pr'oduces  men  and 

52 


TRAINING  FOR  FULL  EFFICIENCY       [IV-s]. 

women  ready  to  serve  to  the  end  all  for  the  development  of 
others.    Love  makes  learning  dynamic. 

Study  for  the  Week 

I 

The  Christian  ideal  proposes  that  every  person  secure  the 
best  possible  development.  How  far  has  this  ideal  been  real- 
ized? 

Even  at  the  centers  of  our  highest  development  of  public 
education — Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia — only  fifty-nine 
to  sixty-one  per  cent  of  our  public  school  children  finish  the 
eighth  grade.  In  the  United  States  there  are  sixty-five  people 
out  of  every  thousand  who  can  not  read  or  write.  In  every 
thousand  in  India  there  are  eight  hundred  and  ninety  one. 
In  many  rural  schools  in  certain  sections  of  our  country 
the  session  lasts  for  twelve  weeks  only.  There  are  two 
hundred  thousand  part-time,  one-room  schools  in  the  country 
districts  in  the  United  States.  In  Asia  and  Africa  there  are 
countless  villages  with  no  schools  at  all. 

Even  in  the  most  advanced  communities  the  schools  have 
not  always  prepared  effectively  for  life.  The  average  public 
school  has  followed  a  stereotyped  general  plan  without  regard 
to  the  needs  of  students  from  different  types  of  communities. 
Boys  and  girls  have  seen  little  relation  between  the  work  in 
the  school  room  and  the  world  outside,  and  they  have  not  been 
trained  for  its  fundamental  processes.  A  prominent  educator 
declares  that  judged  by  this  test  of  service  to  the  life  of  the 
pupil — service  in  the  broad  aspects  of  full  living — one  half  of 
the  time  in  public  school  is  wasted.  Home  training  is  often 
even  more  inadequate  than  that  of  the  schools.  Even  in 
America  vast  numbers  of  young  people  enter  life  work  with 
no  preparation  for  a  vocation,  without  any  instruction  in  the 
fundamental  matters  of  sex;  without  any  real  religious 
training. 

Here  is  a  startling  situation — a  world  seeking  after  democ- 
racy with  this  enormous  untrained  group  in  its  midst. 

53 


[IV-s]     CHRISTIA-NIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

II 

Striking  as  are  the  facts,  the  meaning  of  them  is  even  more 
significant. 

The  group  of  untrained,  undeveloped  young  people  in  any 
community  is  doomed  to  economic  inefficiency.  In  the  com- 
petitive struggle  for  a  livelihood  they  are  cruelly  handicapped. 
They  are  condemned  to  the  blind-alley  jobs,  the  low-grade, 
casual  labor.  They  swell  the  ranks  of  the  unemployed  and 
unemployable.  The  industry  which  calls  them  early  from 
school,  to  put  them  at  work  at  tasks  contributing  nothing  to 
mind  or  character,  will  soon  reject  them  because  they  are 
economically  inefficient.  They  are  a  dead  weight  for  the  pro- 
ductive processes  of  the  community  to  carry.  Many  of  them 
are  literally  not  worth  a  living  wage  to  the  employer  or  to  the 
community.  They  actually  do  not  earn  what  they  get.  The 
labor  that  wastes  more  than  its  keep  in  the  kitchen,  whose 
mistakes  in  the  office  cost  more  than  its  salary,  whose  blunders 
in  the  factory  mount  up  to  more  than  its  pay  envelope,  is 
not  only  a  handicap  upon  the  managers  of  industry  but  is  a 
net  loss  to  the  whole  community  life. 

The  tragedy  of  spiritual  loss  is  even  greater  than  that  of 
economic  damage.  These  untrained  lives  are  for  the  most 
part  barren  of  desire  or  capacity  for  entering  the  world  of 
higher  interests.  The  gates  are  barred  to  the  enlarging  pur- 
suits of  life.  Leisure  is  barren  for  lack  of  the  knowledge  of 
its  use  and  degenerates  into  drinking  and  viciousness.  They 
eat,  they  sleep,  they  take  their  pleasure  where  they  find  it. 
Life  is  one  dull  round  of  commonplaces — it  is  one  dull,  drab 
pattern,  with  no  high  lights  of  inspiration.  One  man  who  is 
sensitive  to  social  need  finds  that  whenever  he  reaches  New 
York  in  the  early  morning  and  walks  the  crowded  downtown 
street  to  his  office,  he  is  struck  anew  with  the  weary  hard- 
ness of  the  young  faces  that  meet  him  hurrying  to  their  work 
in  the  low  grade  jobs  of  industry.  Our  deadening  com- 
mercialism has  already  stamped  its  mark  upon  them.  Yet 
behind  these  is  the  great  motley  throng  of  every  color  in  every 

54 


TRAINING  FOR  FULL  EFFICIENCY       [IV-s] 

land  whose  faces  show  the  age-long  repression  of  monoto- 
nous toil. 

Noblesse  oblige  must  be  the  motto  of  the  group  who  have 
the  extra  equipment.  Said  a  cotton  mill  foreman,  "I  have 
always  believed  that  any  workman  who  desires  should  be  able 
to  send  his  children  to  college.  I  am  a  foreman  but  I  cannot 
do  it,  even  if  they  help  support  themselves."  Uncounted 
multitudes  the  world  over  are  living  on  traditional  and  low- 
grade  planes.  Like  oxen  in  the  field  and  in  the  stalls,  they 
drag  their  weary  limbs  from  labor  to  sleep.  Ever  and  again 
there  comes  a  pathetic  cry  from  an  old  gnarled  toiler — "If 
only  I  knew  more !  The  children  must  know  more  than  I  do." 
An  old  scrubwoman  put  two  dollars  into  the  basket  at  a  meet- 
ing where  the  speaker  had  proclaimed  a  great  propaganda  of 
education  for  the  masses.  The  well  dressed  woman  sitting 
next  her  looked  her  surprise.  "I  have  two  grandchildren  at 
home,"  the  old  worker  said.    It  was  a  sufficient  answer. 

Will  college  men  and  women  answer  the  challenge  of  the 
masses  here?  Will  they  pioneer  the  new  education  in  the 
Near  and  Far  East  and  in  Latin  America? 

Ill 

The  first  opportunity  of  the  college-trained  group  in  its 
relation  to  the  untrained  and  handicapped  is  to  utilize  and 
improve  the  educational  agencies  of  their  own  communities. 
Our  newer  leaders  in  education  are  working  to  reconstruct  the 
school  system  so  that  it  will  genuinely  interest  the  children, 
and  furnish  them  a  training  for  actual  life.  They  are  appeal- 
ing to  their  instinctive  interests,  with  the  provision  for  crea- 
tive work  in  manual  training,  in  home  economics,  and  house- 
hold arts.  They  are  combining  "work-study-play."  A  boy's 
mother  could  never  get  him  to  school  on  time,  but  since  he 
moved  to  Gary  and  found  there  was  a  clay  modelling  room  in 
the  school  where  he  could  spend  part  of  his  time  if  he  was 
faithful  in  his  other  work,  he  has  never  been  late.  He  cannot 
be  driven  away  from  the  school  on   Saturdays. 

The  new  education  is  training  the  judgment  of  children  to 

55 


[IV-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

cope  with  the  real  situations  of  life  in  the  family  and  in  the 
community.  Two  lads  of  five  living  in  a  rural  community  had 
caught  the  viewpoint  when,  of  their  own  volition,  with  com- 
plete absorption,  they  reproduced  in  play  the  work  of  the  vil- 
lage milk  station,  the  hauling,  unloading,  preparing,  and  ship- 
ping of  milk  for  the  small  boys  of  the  city  far  away.  A 
skilled  director  made  their  play  the  basis  for  a  vital  process 
of  education.  Many  arithmetical  processes  were  learned  in 
connection  with  this  aspect  of  real  life;  reading  to  find  out 
more  about  the  enterprise  came  quite  naturally;  simpler 
aspects  of  science,  both  in  physics  and  chemistry,  were  de- 
scribed; and  the  rudiments  of  the  relations  of  sanitation  and 
food  to  health  were  worked  out  in  a  way  that  fundamentally 
enriched  the  life  of  those  boys  and  made  them  share  the 
common  welfare. 

But  the  missionaries  of  the  new  education  preach  to  many 
deaf  ears.  Communities  are  not  willing  to  pay  for  it.  It  costs 
more  and  the  results  reveal  themselves  slowly.  College- 
trained  men  and  women  know  the  defects  of  the  old  educa- 
tional system.  When  they  go  into  the  old-fashioned  school 
room  they  can  see  its  narrow  and  monotonous  routine,  its 
constriction  of  child  life,  its  lack  of  guided  activities — is  it 
not  their  responsibility  to  apply  the  discoveries  of  the  experts 
to  their  own  community?  Whose  opportunity  equals  the 
teacher's?  What  kind  of  men  serve  on  the  local  school  board 
in  our  community?  What  conception  have  they  of  education 
and  child  development  ?  Is  there  no  obligation  for  college  men 
and  women  to  perform  missionary  service  on  the  school  board? 
One  college  woman  was  elected  to  a  village  school  board,  pre- 
viously made  up  of  stingy  retired  farmers,  and  has  helped  to 
revolutionize  that  whole  school  system. 

The  most  significant  advance  in  removing  the  handicaps 
from  the  adult  untrained  group  is  the  widening  of  the  educa- 
tional area.  It  is  significant  that  one  of  our  greatest  schools 
of  commerce  is  running  its  courses  with  full  faculty  in  two 
sections,  a  day  section  and  an  evening  section.  Out  of  3,386 
students  in  the  school,  3,091   are  in  business  during  the  day 

56 


TRAINING  FOR  FULL  EFFICIENCY       [IV-s] 

and  attend  the  university  at  night.  Why  is  not  this  provision 
for  extending  regular  college  education  to  the  business  groups 
more  common?  The  opening  of  the  public  school  buildings 
as  social  centers,  the  extension  of  library  service,  the  increase 
of  popular  lectures,  the  development  of  public  forums  for  the 
free  discussion  of  the  vital  public  questions  and,  perhaps  most 
important  of  all,  university  extension — in  all  such  movements 
the  college  group  can  put  their  trained  powers  at  work  for 
the  enlightening  of  the  community. 

Here  lies  also  the  special  significance  of  the  educational 
agencies  being  developed  by  some  manufacturers  within  their 
plants.  Others  have  made  special  provision  for  their  em- 
ployes to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunities  offered  by  the 
community.  Carry  ^is  through  to  its  logical  conclusion  and  it 
means  the  gradual  purification  of  the  industrial  process  from 
the  profit  motive.  Industry  will  finally  come  to  seek  the  whole 
development  of  human  life,  the  creation  of  all  its  highest 
values.  This  ideal  will  mean  not  simply  that  every  youth  shall 
bring  some  productive  labor  power  to  community  life,  but 
that  the  whole  work  life  of  the  world  shall  be  organized  for 
the  full  development  of  the  higher  life  of  the  workers. 

IV 

This  means  that  the  whole  community  must  come  to  a  real- 
ization of  the  religious  nature  of  education,  of  the  necessity 
of  permeating  all  education  with  the  religious  spirit.  Here  is 
the  heart  of  the  whole  matter.  The  minister  of  a  great  insti- 
tutional church  in  New  York  City  asks :  "Why  should  I  give 
the  people  everything  but  that  which  sends  me  to  them?"  If 
the  Christian  spirit  inspires  men  and  women  to  carry  educa- 
tion to  the  masses  of  the  people,  are  they  not  obligated  to 
carry  the  spirit  of  religion  into  all  education? 

Are  they  not  also  obligated  to  make  the  Bible  and  religion 
a  recognized  part  of  education?  Progress  is  already  being 
made.  The  introduction  of  graded  lessons  and  modern  meth- 
ods of  teaching  is  making  the  Sunday  school  a  truly  educa- 
tional  institution.     Successful   experiments    in    several    states 

57 


[IV-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

point  to  the  day  of  universal  week-day  instruction  in  religion 
under  the  direction  of  the  churches  and  correlated  with  the 
public  school. 

It  was  a  great  day  for  community  progress  when  the  schools 
began  to  teach  applied  science.  It  will  be  a  greater  day  when 
all  the  churches  teach  applied  religion.  But  this  will  require 
that  the  teaching  of  religion  go  on  in  the  home,  the  market- 
place, the  workshop,  as  well  as  in  the  church.  Of  what  avail 
to  teach  the  child  certain  ideals  of  life  one  hour  of  one  day 
in  the  week,  if  for  six  days  in  the  week  the  total  pressure  of 
the  community  life  is  against  the  realization  of  those  ideals, 
and  some  sections  of  its  life  definitely  teach  him  other  ideals? 
The  total  possible  wealth  of  the  Commonwealth  of  God  will 
not  be  realized  until  all  the  forces  of  the  community  are 
turned  to  the  vital  teaching  of  religion. 


Everywhere  Christianity  has  brought  education  to  the 
masses.  A  leading  Hindu  nationalist  in  India  says:  "After 
all,  when  it  comes  to  practice,  Christianity  alone  is  effecting 
what  we  nationalists  are  crying  for,  namely  the  elevation  of 
the  masses."  A  minister  of  education  from  Europe  mar- 
velled at  the  intelligence  and  manliness  of  a  boy  in  our  public 
schools,  who  belonged  to  a  race  which  his  nation  had  held  in 
subjection  for  hundreds  of  years. 

In  the  social  records  of  mankind  the  greatest  attempt  of 
privileged  people  to  carry  to  deficient  races  the  means  and 
methods  of  training  for  life  efficiency  is  the  educational  work 
of  Christian  missions.  They  have  carried  to  illiterate  tribes 
and  nations  a  complete  educational  system  from  public  school 
to  university.  They  have  given  the  emancipation  of  modern 
sciences  to  races  held  in  the  bond  of  an  artificial  pedantic 
system.  They  have  released  woman  from  her  ancient  bondage 
and  ignorance.  They  have  provided  undeveloped  groups  with 
the  best  training  for  the  needs  and  pursuits  of  life  that  the 
world  knows.  They  have  taught  domestic  science  and  medi- 
cine,   industry    and    agriculture.      From    India,    a    Princeton 

58 


TRAINING  FOR  FULL  EFFICIENCY       [IV-sJ 

graduate  reports  that  his  Indian  neighbors  grow  six  or  eight 
bushels  of  wheat  per  acre,  while  with  the  proper  methods  of 
cultivation  and  seed  introduced  by  the  missionaries,  twenty-five 
to  thirty  bushels  are  raised  under  the  same  conditions. 

The  results  are  social  transformations  on  such  a  scale  as  the 
world  has  never  seen  in  so  short  a  period.  The  sons  of  coolies 
who  did  the  work  of  the  animals,  and  those  of  pariahs,  who 
lived  in  cowering  subjection,  have  become  scholars  and  edu- 
cators. The  daughters  of  women  who  were  drudges  or  play- 
things have  become  competent  physicians.  Age-long  social 
fetters  have  been  broken;  time-worn  prisons  for  the  mind  have 
been  opened ;  and  great  masses  of  the  earth's  population  are 
now  coming  with  vision  and  power  to  take  their  part  in  the 
future  development  of  mankind. 

Unbiased  recognition  of  this  result  is  the  fact  that  the  Eng- 
lish government  has  subsidized  mission  schools  in  India,  and 
education  in  China  and  Japan  has  now  been  extended  under 
government  direction  far  beyond  the  mission  schools.  These 
schools  have  furnished  native  governments  with  many  of  their 
most  enlightened  and  effective  leaders  in  commerce,  education, 
and  statesmanship.  More  than  twenty  of  the  well-known 
journals  of  Japan  are  edited  by  men  who  graduated  from 
Christian  schools.  The  contribution  of  Christian  education  to 
the  growing  democracy  of  the  Near  East  and  the  Far  East  is 
immeasurable.  What  forces  made  the  new  China?  Who  are 
the  leaders  in  movements  for  democracy  in  other  of  the  non- 
Christian  nations? 

Here  is  proof  of  the  help  Christianity  is  giving  the  world 
in  its  search  for  democracy.  When  this  world  movement  of 
Christian  education  is  carried  to  its  inevitable  conclusion,  when 
the  fullest  equipment  for  life  that  the  science  of  education 
provides  is  given  to  all  the  handicapped  groups  of  this 
country  and  Europe  and  to  all  the  undeveloped  peoples  of  the 
earth,  what  kind  of  a  world  will  there  be?  The  educational 
achievement  of  Christian  missions  is  a  world  fact  and  force, 
only  because  some  pioneer  spirits  of  the  last  generation  went 
from  the  colleges  to  endure  loneliness  and  encounter  danger. 

59 


[IV-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

Have  the  college  men  and  women  of  this  generation  the  spirit 
to  complete  their  work? 

Suggestions  for  Discussion  and  Action 

I.     The  Untrained  in  an  American  Community 

1.  Let  us  think  over  the  present  situation  and  life  experi- 
ence of  the  friends  who  were  in  our  classes  in  public  school 
and  who  quit  school  before  we  went  to  college.  To  what 
extent  have  some  of  them  succeeded  in  spite  of  lack  of 
advanced  education?  In  what  ways?  In  what  cases  has 
lack  of  further  training  proved  to  be  a  handicap?  How? 
Can  we  remember  the  reasons  why  any  of  them  dropped 
out?  In  what  cases  has  personal  degeneration  followed  upon 
lack  of  employment,  low  wages,  and  loss  of  courage? 

2.  What  groups  of  men  and  women  of  low  grade  effi- 
ciency are  there  in  our  community?  Describe  typical  per- 
sons. In  given  cases  to  what  extent  is  their  inefficiency  due 
to  lack  of  training  and  to  what  extent  to  personal  incapac- 
ity? What  added  training  was  needed  and  how  would  it 
have  affected  their  lives? 

3.  What  were  the  main  reasons  for  the  failure  of  these 
groups  to  secure  fuller  training?  Would  the  raising  of  the 
compulsory  age  limit  have  solved  it?  How  far  was  the  type 
of  education  offered  to  blame? 

4.  How  can  college  graduates  prevent  the  continuance 
of  these  conditions? 

H.     The  Untrained  in  a  Foreign  Community 

1,  What  are  the  effects  upon  the  community  life  of  the 
widespread  illiteracy? 

2,  How  does  the  lack  of  industrial  training  affect  the 
.  labor   efficiency? 

III.     The  Public  School  Situation 

I.     Let  us  look  into  the  public  school  situation.     What  is 
the  point  of  view  of  the  local  school  board?     Have  we  a 
school  system  which  genuinely  interests  the  children? 
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TRAINING  FOR  FULL  EFFICIENCY       [IV-s] 

2.  How  far  have  the  school  board  studied  the  needs  of 
our  community  and  planned  the  schools  to  meet  them? 

3.  How  far  does  our  public  school  education  train  the 
people  for  the  wise  use  of  leisure?  For  play?  For  citizen- 
ship?    For  appreciation  of  music,  art,  and  literature? 

4.  What  are  the  most  urgent  changes  needed  in  our 
public  schools?    Which  are  we  willing  to  work  for? 

5.  Do  we  need  special  provision  for  sex  education? 

IV.  Widening  the  Educational  Area 

1.  What  educational  assets  has  our  community  beside  the 
public  schools? 

2.  What  is  being  done  especially  for  the  untrained  adult 
groups  through  night  schools?  By  the  manufacturers  or 
the  stores  in  giving  employes  opportunity  for  training? 

3.  What  other  methods  of  enriching  the  educational  life 
are  available,  such  as  library,  lectures,  or  health  education? 

V.  Religious  Education 

1.  To  what  extent  is  religious  development  an  intrinsic 
part  of  education  as  a  whole?  What  do  we  believe  ought 
to  be  included  in  vital  religious  education? 

2.  What  changes  in  the  church  and  Sunday  school  of  our 
town  would  increase  their  educational  efficiency?  What  can 
we  do  to  bring  them  about?  What  proportion  of  public 
school  children  are  not  in  any  Sunday  school?  Why?  How 
can  they  be  provided  with  a  vital  religious  education? 

3.  What  has  been  done  for  week-day  religious  instruc- 
tion in  our  town? 

VI.  Educational  Missions 

1.  Review  briefly  the  extent  and  character  of  educa- 
tional work  carried  on  by  Christian  missionaries. 

2.  What  has  been  the  influence  of  this  work  upon  the 
educational  development  of  the  countries?  upon  the  eco- 
nomic and  social  life?  upon  democracy?  upon  moral  prog- 

■  ress? 

61 


CHAPTER  V 

RESTORING  THE  WEAK 

Just  as  the  wounded  retard  an  army's  progress,  so  the  weak 
hold  back  community  life  in  every  land  and  time.  They  are 
present  today  in  every  community,  their  pallid  faces  in  the 
bread  lines  of  our  cities,  their  tragic  struggles  recorded  on 
our  charity  books,  their  weary  lives  hiding  in  the  barren  rooms 
of  our  villages.  We  must  reckon  with  more  than  the  misery  of 
those  whose  hardships  bring  them  to  public  attention.  Many 
a  family  shelters  those  who  are  weak  of  body  and  crippled 
of  soul,  hiding  them  away  from  the  public  gaze  with  true  affec- 
tion. The  community  has  a  duty  toward  them  all.  What 
shall  it  do  with  its  weak? 

Daily  Meditations 

First  Day  :  Jesus'  Social  Program  Is  for  the  Weak 

And  he  came  to  Nazareth,  where  he  had  been 
brought  up :  and  he  entered,  as  his  custom  was,  into 
the  synagogue  on  the  sabbath  day,  and  stood  up  to 
read.  And  there  was  delivered  unto  him  the  book  of 
the  prophet  Isaiah.  And  he  opened  the  book,  and 
found  the  place  where  it  was  written, 
The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me. 
Because  he  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  to  the 

poor: 
He  hath  sent  me  to  proclaim  release  to  the  captives, 
And  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind. 
To  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised. 
To  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord. — 

Luke  4:    16-19. 

Jesus  seems  to  have  begun  his  contact  with  the  weak  in 
62 


RESTORING  THE  WEAK  [V-2] 

his  own  home  town.  Whether  they  were  sick  of  body  or  sick 
of  soul,  he  healed  them.  That  pathetic  group  on  the  streets 
of  Nazareth!  Who  are  they  in  our  communities?  The  com- 
fort and  strength  that  Jesus  brought  to  weak  individuals  has 
been  passed  on  to  great  groups  in  all  the  corners  of  the  earth 
through  many  organized  activities.  Among  the  first  works 
of  Christianity  was  its  ministry  to  the  poor  and  the  sick. 
From  that  day  to  this  its  fairest  record  has  been  the  story 
of  its  manifold  ministry  of  mercy.  Lord  Curzon,  former 
Viceroy  of  India,  declared  that  the  greatest  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity in  that  country  was  through  its  philanthropy,  the 
undeniable  evidence  of  its  religion.  Beyond  the  reach  of 
Christianity  the  sick  and  the  maimed  are  left  without  care 
to  die.  Jainism  has  hospitals  for  animals,  but  none  for  hu- 
man beings.  Hinduism  has  been  very  solicitous  for  the  wel- 
fare of  the  sacred  cow,  but  has  never  even  erected  a  dis- 
pensary for  the  relief  of  human  suffering. 

Second  Day:    The  Sick  Surrounded  Jesus 

And  there  came  unto  him  great  multitudes,  having 
with  them  the  lame,  blind,  dumb,  maimed,  and  many 
others,  and  they  cast  them  down  at  his  feet;  and  he 
healed  them, — Matt.  15  :  30. 

Read  also  Matt.  11:  4,  5;  Mark  10:  46;  Luke  7:  21. 

What  other  instances  have  we  of  Jesus'  healing  the 
sick? 

Jesus  was  always  surrounded  by  the  weak.  He  lived  in  their 
presence.  At  a  time  when  the  public  manifestations  of  disease 
were  far  more  distressing  than  at  present,  Jesus  was  continu- 
ally among  them.  He  dared  to  ignore  the  current  attitude 
toward  the  lepers,  and  brought  them  all  a  message  of  hope  and 
cheer.  It  is  a  challenge  and  an  inspiration.  "When  a  mission- 
ary physician  braves  a  storm  in  the  middle  of  the  night  to 
attend  a  sick  girl  baby,  he  sets  an  entire  Oriental  community 
to  wondering  whether  life  may  not  be  worth  saving  after 
all,  even  at  considerable  cost."    The  Christian  doctor  has  gone 

63 


[V-3]       CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

to  countries  where  native  medical  practice  consisted  in  cutting 
with  knives,  pricking  with  needles,  and  other  forms  of  tor- 
ture to  drive  out  evil  spirits,  and  has  pioneered  the  cause  of 
modern  medicine,  saving  hundreds  of  thousands  of  lives  from 
needless   death. 

Why  is  it  that  we  increasingly  resent  commercialism  in  the 
medical  profession?  Will  the  day  ever  come  when  the  whole 
practice  of  medicine  will  be  a  public  ministry? 

Third  Day:  No  Baggage  to  Hinder  the  March 

And  he  lifted  up  his  eyes  on  his  disciples,  and  said, 
Blessed  are  ye  poor:  for  yours  is  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Blessed  are  ye  that  hunger  now :  for  ye  shall  be  filled. 
Blessed  are  ye  that  weep  now :  for  ye  shall  laugh. 
Blessed  are  ye,  when  men  shall  hate  you,  and  when 
they  shall  separate  you  from  their  company,  and 
reproach  you,  and  cast  out  your  name  as  evil,  for  the 
Son  of  man's  sake.  Rejoice  in  that  day,  and  leap  for 
joy:  for  behold,  your  reward  is  great  in  heaven;  for 
in  the  same  manner  did  their  fathers  unto  the 
prophets.  But  woe  unto  you  that  are  rich  !  for  ye 
have  received  your  consolation.  Woe  unto  you,  ye 
that  are  full  now !  for  ye  shall  hunger.  Woe  unto 
you,  ye  that  laugh  now !  for  ye  shall  mourn  and 
weep.  Woe  unto  you,  when  all  men  shall  speak  well 
of  you!  for  in  the  same  manner  did  their  fathers  to 
the  false  prophets. — Luke  6 :  20-26. 

The  poor  are  much  in  Jesus'  thoughts  and  on  his  lips, 
because  he  has  constant  fellowship  with  them.  They  feel 
today  that  he  belongs  to  them.  The  poverty  that  Jesus  shared 
is  in  absolute  contrast  to  all  luxury.  It  is  simple,  strong 
living.  The  poverty  he  blesses  is  voluntary  freedom  from  the 
besetting  sins  of  luxury.  As  he  walked  through  life,  he 
carried  no  baggage  to  hinder  his  march.  His  spirit  was  free 
because  he  would  not  be  burdened  with  material  things.  Who 
among  us  today  is  brave  enough  for  voluntary  poverty  in  the 
way  in  which  Jesus  lived  it? 

64 


RESTORING  THE  WEAK  [V-4] 

Fourth  Day:  Who  Sinned? 

And  as  he  passed  by,  he  saw  a  man  blind  from  his 
birth.  And  his  disciples  asked  him,  saying,  Rabbi,  who 
sinned,  this  man,  or  his  parents,  that  he  should  be 
born  blind? — John  9:   i,  2. 

This  whole  incident  may  well  be  studied  carefully. 
— John  9:  1-41. 

Contrast  the  attitude  of  Jesus  and  the  Pharisees.  He  was 
interested  in  helping  the  blind  man,  they  in  locating  the 
blame  for  his  condition.  It  is  fascinating  to  follow  the  trail 
of  the  sinner,  to  run  down  the  causes  of  human  weakness  and 
defect.  Yet  these  Pharisees  were  one  degree  ahead  of  our 
strict  individualists,  who  commonly  hold  every  man  wholly 
responsible  for  his  condition,  and  whg  pile  all  the  blame  for 
poverty  on  the  heads  of  the  poor. 

But  individuals  are  all  the  time  challenged  to  face  their 
responsibility  for  the  weakness  of  others.  What  about  the 
parents  who  transmit  weakness  to  their  children  as  the  direct 
result  of  sex  sin?  When  innocence  brings  its  indictment 
against  parenthood,  who  shall  stand  in  that  day  of  judgment 
in  the  courts  of  God?  How  often  are  the  self-righteous  really 
responsible  for  the  very  sins  which  they  charge  against  the 
weak  and  deficient !  Who  draws  the  rent  from  saloons  and 
houses  of  ill-fame?  Who  takes  the  stolen  dividends  out  of 
the  industries  that  blight  and  maim?  Distance  or  the  hiring 
of  agents  to  collect  the  dirty  money  cannot  take  the  curse  off 
of  it.  When  the  tangled  skein  of  social  responsibility  is 
unraveled,  who  shall  escape  indictment? 

Fifth  Day  :  The  Friend  of  Sinners 

For  John  came  neither  eating  nor  drinking,  and  they 
say,  He  hath  a  demon.  The  Son  of  man  came  eating 
and  drinking,  and  they  say.  Behold,  a  gluttonous  man 
and  a  winebibber,  a  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners  I 
And  wisdom  is  justified  by  her  works. — Matt.  11 : 
18,  19. 

Read  also  Mark  2:  13-17. 

65 


[V-6]       CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

A  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners — what  a  fine  title !  What 
a  morsel  for  the  well-bred  people  of  Jerusalem!  With  what 
sneering  scorn  they  said  it :  A  friend  of  outcasts !  How  many 
of  his  disciples  covet  that  scorn?  Yet  some  have  dared. 
In  India  converted  Brahmins  have  broken  through  ancient 
caste  lines  and  endured  the  bitterest  social  ostracism  because 
they  associated  in  Christian  fellowship  with  the  outcastes. 

Christ  died  between  two  thieves.  How  many  of  his  fol- 
lowers today  live  close  to  criminals?  When  Jesus  fellow- 
shipped  with  them  they  walked  into  his  Kingdom.  But  did 
Jesus'  fellowship  with  the  publicans  and  harlots  on  their  terms 
or  on  his  own?  That  is  a  perilous  job  for  even  the  strongest 
man.  How  may  a  man  be  made  strong  enough  to  give  even 
that  fellowship  and  make  it  redemptive  in  the  lives  of  others? 
Where  can  he  find  the  power? 

Sixth  Day  :  The  Whole  J  oh  of  the  Good  Samaritan 

But  a  certain  Samaritan,  as  he  journeyed,  came 
where  he  was :  and  when  he  saw  him,  he  was  moved 
with  compassion,  and  came  to  him,  and  bound  up  his 
wounds,  pouring  on  them  oil  and  wine;  and  he  set 
him  on  his  own  beast,  and  brought  him  to  an  inn,  and 
took  care  of  him.  And  on  the  morrow  he  took  out 
two  shillings,  and  gave  them  to  the  host,  and  said. 
Take  care  of  him ;  and  whatsoever  thou  spendest 
more,  I,  when  I  come  back  again,  will  repay  thee. 
Which  of  these  three,  thinkest  thou,  proved  neighbor 
unto  him  that  fell  among  the  robbers?  And  he  said, 
He  that  showed  mercy  on  him.  And  Jesus  said  unto 
him.  Go,  and  do  thou  likewise. — Luke  lo:  :^2>-2>7- 

Recall  the  picture  of  those  who  passed  by. — Luke 
10 :  25-37. 

Christianity  takes  the  good  Samaritan  beyond  the  task  of 
binding  up  wounds ;  it  leads  him  out  to  clear  the  highway  of 
robbers.  But  it  does  not  stop  even  there.  It  requires  that  he 
also  discover  the  causes  which  make  both  the  robber  and 
the  robbed,  in  order  that  he  may  help  them.    This  is  perilous 

66 


RESTORING  THE  WEAK  [V-7] 

business.     The    trail    may   lead    straight   back    to    one's    own 
business  friends,  to  one's  own  household. 

A  man  of  wealth  came  into  the  office  of  a  magazine  and  told 
of  his  gift  to  anti-tuberculosis  work.  The  next  day  two  of 
the  staff  went  through  his  factory  and  found  it  a  breeding 
place  for  germs.  One  of  them  broke  out  in  condemnation. 
"Why,  what  would  you  have  him  do?"  said  the  other. 
"Suppose  he  went  without  some  of  his  profits  and  made 
this  place  decent  for  the  girls."  Where  must  philanthropy 
stop  and  social  justice  begin  in  our  community?  Are  any  of 
us  justified  in  giving  all  our  time  to  benevolence  and  none  to 
social  justice,  or  in  giving  all  our  time  to  social  propaganda 
and  none  to  personal  service  for  the  weak  and  helpless? 


Seventh  Day:  The  Test  of  Life 

Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  his  right 
hand,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world :  for  I  was  hungry,  and  ye  gave  me  to  eat ;  I  was 
thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink;  I  was  a  stranger,  and 
ye  took  me  in;  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me;  I  was  sick, 
and  ye  visited  me;  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came  unto 
me.  Then  shall  the  righteous  answer  him,  saying, 
Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  hungry,  and  fed  thee  ?  or 
athirst,  and  gave  thee  drink?  And  when  saw  we  thee 
a  stranger,  and  took  thee  in?  or  naked,  and  clothed 
thee?  And  when  saw  we  thee  sick,  or  in  prison,  and 
came  unto  thee?  And  the  King  shall  answer  and  say 
unto  them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Inasmuch  as  ye  did 
it  unto  one  of  these  my  brethren,  even  these  least,  ye 
did  it  unto  me. — Matt.  25 :  34-40. 


We  think  of  the  judgment  as  a  terrible  test  for  the  wickea. 
At  the  hands  of  Jesus  it  was  not  only  this;  it  was  a  terrible 
test  for  the  strong,  moral,  comfortable  church-going  people. 
The  question  was,  "Did  you  feed  the  hungry?  Did  you  make 
warm   those   who   were   cold   in   the   winter   time?     Did  you 

67 


[V-s]       CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

ease  the  pain  of  the  sick?     Out  of  your  rectitude  went  there 
any  virtue  for  the  healing  of  those  who  were  sick  of  soul?" 

Can  we  stand  that  test?  Are  we  personally  related  to 
these  pathetic  groups  in  our  own  community — the  dependent, 
the  defective,  the  delinquent?  We  may  say,  "Lord,  I  have 
given  my  money  to  missions;  I  have  supported  the  church; 
I  served  on  a  charity  board."  Yes,  but  have  we  put  our 
lives  into  actual  contact  with  other  lives  who  need  us? 

Study  for  the  Week 

Never  since  the  world  began  have  there  been  such  organized 
movements  to  care  for  the  weaker  groups  in  human  society. 
But  while  this  gain  is  being  achieved,  new  forces  for  destruc- 
tion have  begun  to  operate. 

Our  modern  industrial  system  is  crushing  down  great  heaps 
of  human  wreckage.  Because  of  the  Great  War  the  coming- 
generation  faces  such  a  mass  of  human  misery  as  the  world 
has  never  met  before.  Society  has  not  only  been  wasting  its 
human  resources,  but  it  has  been  multiplying  the  power  of 
the  world-old  evils  of  disease  and  poverty  and  crime.  These 
evils  are  contagious.  They  have  power  to  breed  and  perpet- 
uate themselves.  There  will  be  no  easy  way  out  by  doles  of 
relief,  or  opportunist  programs.  The  mounting  mass  of  degen- 
eracy will  test  the  strength  of  our  Western  civilization  to  the 
bottom. 

I 

In  every  community  the  poor  in  their  weakness  challenge 
the  comfortable  in  their  strength.  There  is  no  rural  district 
so  remote,  no  suburban  community  so  refined  and  prosperous 
that  it  has  not  at  least  a  margin  of  poverty  around  its  edges. 
It  is  not  simply  the  destitute,  those  in  the  extreme  of  poverty, 
who  claim  our  concern.  We  have  learned  how  to  take  care 
of  them.  Our  community  would  be  considered  pagan  if  it 
had  not  established  some  organized  method  of  relief  work, 
orivate  and  public.     While  we  do  not  let  the  poor  starve  or 

68 


RESTORING  THE  WEAK  [V-s] 

die  outright  for  lack  of  bread,  while  we  do  not  "sell  the  needy 
for  a  pair  of  shoes,"  there  is  still  ever  present  with  us  a  vast 
group  that  lives  upon  the  poverty  line. 

In  India  millions  lie  down  hungry  every  night  of  the  year. 
"If  the  modern  American  almshouses  were  to  be  erected  in 
China  and  thrown  open  to  all  who  would  come,"  says  an 
authority,  "two-thirds  of  the  population  would  be  at  their 
doors,  because  what  they  would  receive  there  would  be  so 
much  better  than  what  they  had  lived  on  all  of  their  lives." 
When  constantly  recurring  famine  sweeps  these  lands,  this 
perpetual  poverty  is  enlarged  into  wholesale  starvation  and 
death. 

Even  in  our  prosperous  United  States  at  least  one-tenth 
of  the  population  is  not  adequately  fed,  clothed,  nor  sheltered 
according  to  the  lowest  standards.  They  live  on  the  run-down 
farms,  in  the  hovels  of  small  towns,  in  the  dark  rooms  of  the 
cities,  in  the  shacks  and  shanties  on  the  edges  of  the  suburbs. 
The  ills  of  the  industrial  order  heap  up  on  their  lives.  The 
competitive  system  ruthlessly  casts  aside  their  inefficiency. 
Greed  strengthens  itself  out  of  their  necessities.  They  must 
pay  the  high  cost  of  American  living  with  all  its  inclusion  of 
swollen  profits.  Everywhere  the  poor  live  with  the  fear  of 
hunger  in  their  eyes,  with  the  shadow  of  want  upon  their 
doorsteps,  with  dread  in  their  souls  of  what  poverty  may 
finally  do  to  the  morals  of  their  children.  Prosperity  even  in 
prosperous  times  is  an  idle  word  to  them.  They  live  from 
hand  to  mouth.  Any  of  the  ordinary  emergencies  of  life, 
such  as  unemployment,  sickness,  or  a  funeral,  would  throw 
them  down  below  the  poverty  line,  and  change  them  into 
dependents  and  paupers. 

While  relief  work  will  not  avail  to  remove  poverty  as  a 
social  fact,  there  is  no  solution  which  omits  personal  service 
and  contact.  There  is  no  way  up  from  the  bottom  except  by 
the  leaven  of  life  from  another  level.  Merely  to  leave  a  basket 
on  the  doorstep  is  to  leave  hunger  in  the  house  when  the 
basket  is  empty.  To  develop  a  program  that  will  secure  eco- 
nomic efficiency  for  the  whole  family  is  a  slower,  longer  task. 

69 


[V-s]       CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

Relief  work,  public  and  private,  has  to  be  humanized  by  the 
personal  service  of  the  volunteer.  A  college  graduate  of  large 
wealth  and  business  connections  recently  withdrew  entirely 
from  business  to  accept  the  supervision  of  the  institutions 
of  his  county  dealing  with  the  poor,  and  has  revolutionized 
them.  Do  such  possibilities  put  a  new  meaning  into  politics 
and  a  new  responsibility  upon  the  voter? 

It  is  disheartening  to  pull  some  families  up  above  the 
poverty  line,  only  to  see  others  step  in  to  take  their  place. 
Intelligent  relief  work  leads  inevitably  to  preventive  philan- 
thropy. The  mayor  in  a  great  inland  Chinese  city  of  500,000 
was  following  the  lead  of  this  modern  philanthropy  in  his 
attack  upon  the  beggar  problem.  He  not  only  made  the 
licensed  trade  of  begging  unlawful,  but  through  industrial 
orphanages  for  the  beggars'  children  and  industrial  training 
for  the  beggars  themselves,  sought  to  make  these  outcasts  of 
society  self-supporting  and  self-respecting  citizens.  "The 
dominant  idea  of  modern  philanthropy,"  says  Dr.  Edward  T. 
Devine,  "is  embodied  in  a  determination  to  seek  out  and  to 
strike  effectively  at  those  organized  forces  of  evil,  at  those 
particular  causes  of  dependence,  and  intolerable  living  con- 
ditions, which  are  beyond  the  control  of  the  individuals  whom 
they  injure  and  whom  they  too  often  destroy." 

The  prevention  of  poverty  is  not  alone  the  dream  of  the 
idealists — it  is  also  the  sober  demand  of  the  scientists.  They 
declare  that  poverty  now  exists  only  because  men  are  willing 
it  should  exist,  because  of  defective  distribution,  and  not  be- 
cause of  any  basic  economic  deficit.  What  obligation  does 
this  place  upon  those  who  share  in  the  social  surplus?  How 
far  is  the  question  of  justice  in  the  distribution  of  wealth  a 
world  question  to  be  thought  out  in  the  Orient  as  well  as  in 
the  Occident?    How  can  the  missionary  help  to  work  it  out? 

II 

In  one  hospital  in  China,  founded  and  maintained  by  Amer- 
ican university  men,  twenty-five  thousand  out-patients  were 

70 


RESTORIXG  THE  WEAK  [V-s] 

treated  in  a  single  year.  This  is  but  one  of  seven  hundred 
mission  hospitals  in  various  lands.  The  missionaries  have 
carried  modern  medicine  and  surgery  to  Japan.  Korea,  China, 
Siam,  India.  Persia.  Turkey,  and  Africa.  Christianity  thus 
inspires  the  care  of  the  sick  through  countless  institutions  and 
personal  services. 

Alongside  of  this  vast  work  of  Christian  compassion  there 
still  stands,  however,  the  grim  fact  of  the  extent  of  prevent- 
able disease.  More  than  six  hundred  thousand  lives  are 
needlessly  sacrificed  everj-  year  in  the  United  States  from 
diseases  which  modern  science  knows  how  to  prevent !  There 
is  no  way  to  compute  the  doubtless  vastly  larger  proportion 
of  needless  deaths  occurring  annually  in  those  lands  where 
medical  science  is  in  its  infancy.  The  economic  waste  has 
been  computed  into  the  millions,  but  who  shall  estimate  the 
loss  to  community  life?  A  college  communitj-  recently  lost 
from  typhoid  fever  one  of  its  strongest  professors — a  man 
whose  influence  on  many  generations  of  college  men  and 
women  was  incalculable.  That  community  had  knowledge 
enough  and  money  enough  to  protect  itself  against  typhoid, 
but  it  did  not  have  religion  enough  to  tackle  the  job.  The 
burden  of  preventable  sickness  always  falls  most  heavily 
upon  the  poor.  Low  vitality  sucks  in  disease  like  a  sponge. 
Comparative  mortality  figures  of  the  wards  of  our  cities 
reveal  the  mass  selfishness  of  the  well-to-do,  the  educated 
and  efficient  groups.  They  know  how  to  protect  themselves 
and  their  families  by  personal  and  family  hygiene.  But  the 
poor  are  the  ignorant,  and  they  are  left  comparatively  help- 
less in  their  weakness.  Their  chief  protection  must  be  through 
measures  of  public  health,  the  enforcement  of  sanitation  and 
the  improvement  of  housing.  By  the  same  token  the  mass 
selfishness  of  the  nations  possessing  medical  knowledge  stands 
revealed.  The  answer  for  the  backward  peoples  is  the  same  as 
that  for  the  backward  wards  of  a  city. 

But  the  community  is  wasting  its  money  in  medical  care  if 
it  does  not  also  provide  for  disease  prevention.  In  one  city, 
where  the  spirit  of  Christian  compassion  has  erected  a  great 

71 


[V-s]       CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

tuberculosis  sanitarium,  there  is  a  long  waiting  list.  No 
patient  can  be  kept  longer  than  ninety  days.  Only  the  simplest 
cases  can  be  taken,  and  they  must  be  discharged  when  only 
partially  cured.  Yet  the  prevailing  cause  of  tuberculosis  in 
that  city  is  dry  grinding  in  the  metal  trades,  for  it  is  a  metal 
manufacturing  center.  Without  adequate  measures  of  pre- 
vention to  remove  that  cause,  the  community  is  needlessly 
wasting  its  money,  its  scientific  skill  and  Christian  compassion. 
In  many  lands  medical  missionaries  have  pioneered  in  stamp- 
ing out  plagues  and  epidemics.  Smallpox  went  unchecked 
until  they  introduced  vaccination  into  Siam.  Christian  doctors 
were  leaders  in  the  fight  against  the  terrible  pneumonic 
plague  in  north  China. 

The  public  health  movement  must  be  recognized  as  a  mis- 
sionary enterprise.  Is  it  not  the  lineal  successor  of  the  sanitary 
and  hygienic  legislation  of  the  Old  Testament  and  of  Jesus' 
work  in  banishing  the  shadow  of  death  from  the  homes  of  the 
people?  It  develops  sacrificial  service.  It  has  its  roll  call  of 
heroes  and  martyrs — the  investigators  who  have  contracted  the 
diseases  whose  origins  they  were  seeking;  the  field  men  of 
our  public  health  service  who  have  caught  the  contagion  they 
were  fighting;  the  "doctors  courageous"  who  gave  their  lives 
for  typhus-stricken  Serbia;  the  heroic  medical  missionaries 
who  have  fallen  on  the  frontiers  of  the  kingdom.  Here  is  a 
religious  community  enterprise  if  ever  there  was  one.  Who 
will  show  the  communities  in  which  we  are  to  live  the  reli- 
gious value  of  pure  water,  of  proper  sewage  disposal,  of  ade- 
quate quarantine  and  medical  inspection  in  the  schools?  Ought 
the  community's  treatment,  both  of  the  sick  and  of  disease, 
ultimately  to  be  on  the  same  basis  as  medical  missions?  How 
can  this  be  made  possible? 

Ill 

There  is  no  community  without  its  moral  offenders,  those 
whom  we  so  glibly  call  "criminals."  Sinning  and  sinned 
against,  they  are  outlaws  of  our  community  life.  Their  hand 
is  raised  against  every  man  and  sometimes  every  man's  hand 

72 


RESTORING  THE  WEAK  [V-s] 

is  raised  against  them.  The  contact  of  the  community  with 
them  is  usually  through  the  hands  of  the  court.  Two  facts 
can  be  put  over  against  each  other  in  our  modern  community 
life.  One  is  the  apparent  increase  of  crime,  particularly  the 
extent  of  juvenile  delinquency.  The  other  is  the  changing 
attitude  of  the  community  toward  the  offender.  The  spirit  of 
Christianity  has  brought  brotherhood  into  the  relation  of  the 
community  to  those  who  sin  against  it.  Not  punishment,  but 
reformation,  is  now  our  goal. 

The  extent  of  juvenile  delinquency  is  an  indictment  of  our 
community  life.  Think  what  it  means  that  in  one  American 
city  fifteen  thousand  young  people  under  the  age  of  twenty 
were  arrested  and  brought  into  court  in  one  year !  It  means 
that  the  vast  structure  of  the  church,  working  for  religious 
education ;  of  the  school,  working  for  moral,  intellectual,  and 
economic  development,  have  by  so  much  failed  to  realize  their 
constructive  purpose.  The  first  work  which  one  group  of 
men  found  to  do  was  to  serve  as  big  brothers  to  the  boys  who 
came  before  the  juvenile  court.  This  naturally  led  them  to 
consider  the  causes  of  delinquency  in  their  community.  The 
definite  causes  that  send  boys  and  girls  wrong  must  be  studied 
everywhere.  This  is  a  service  which  the  trained  men  and 
women  of  the  colleges  can  render  to  their  home  towns.  Have 
they  courage  enough  to  dig  these  causes  up  by  the  roots? 

The  roots  sometimes  run  a  long  way  underground  and  come 
up  in  unexpected  places.  The  records  of  ten  thousand  juvenile 
delinquents  were  traced  back  to  the  homes  to  discover  the 
causes  that  contributed  to  their  condition.  There  were  three 
great  groups.  There  was  first,  the  depleted  family  life  in  the 
region  of  bad  housing.  There  was  second,  the  perversion  of 
the  recreation  instinct  and  need.  The  third  great  group  was 
improper  conditions  of  work,  long  hours,  and  over-fatigue. 
Who  are  the  real  criminals  disclosed  by  such  a  study  of 
causes?  How  can  we  bring  the  power  of  public  opinion  to 
bear  upon  them? 

Those  who  know  the  principles  of  the  new  penology,  and 
share  the  Christian  motive  for  their  achievement  can  overcome 

72 


[V-s]       CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

this  resistance.  Those  who  carry  Christianity  to  lands  where 
dungeons  and  tortures  are  the  common  lot  of  prisoners  must 
be  equipped  to  change  these  conditions. 

IV 

Social  study  confronts  us  with  the  need  for  more  than 
purely  personal  religion.  The  Gospel  accomplishes  miracles 
of  transformation  in  individual  lives,  yet  who  dare  write  the 
triumph  of  environment  over  personal  faith,  of  community 
pressure  over  personal  aspirations?  The  missionary  sees  the 
pride  of  the  school  dragged  off  to  child  marriage.  The  settle- 
ment worker  sees  the  winsome  girl  slowly  degenerating  under 
the  terrible  pressure  of  vice  and  the  exploitation  of  industry. 
Of  what  avail  is  it  to  build  hospitals  and  leave  unchecked  the 
dust  trades,  the  plague  spots  of  bad  housing — all  the  forces 
that  make  for  deterioration  among  the  poor?  An  English 
alienist  declares  that  one  of  his  tests  of  insanity  is  to  set  the 
suspected  person  to  the  task  of  filling  a  barrel  with  water 
while  there  is  an  open  faucet  at  the  bottom.  How  would  our 
community  stand  a  similar  test  in  its  Christian  social  work? 

Three  remarkable  maps  of  Chicago  reveal  the  typical  areas 
of  weakness  in  community  life.  One  shows  where  the  families 
were  given  aid  by  the  relief  societies;  another  where  the 
mortality  is  the  highest ;  and  still  another  where  live  ten  thou- 
sand juvenile  delinquents.  The  strange  truth  is  that  delin- 
quency, disease,  destitution  are  all  massed  in  the  same  neigh- 
borhoods. They  are  the  regions  of  economic  inefficiency — the 
districts  where  live  the  victims  of  industrial  exploitation. 
In  other  parts  of  the  city  the  family  has  been  able  to  strengthen 
its  life  to  resist  the  attacks  of  these  social  wrongs.  How  can 
the  community  now  do  the  same  for  these  regions  of  need? 
Is  not  the  abolition  of  the  liquor  traffic  the  first  step  in  the 
removal  of  one  of  the  most  powerful  causes  of  poverty,  dis- 
eas-e,  and  delinquency?  What  will  come  next?  Now  turn 
to  a  map  of  the  world  and  mark  those  regions  where  poverty  is 
most  baffling;    where   disease   works   greatest   havoc;    where 

74 


"     RESTORING  THE  WEAK  [V-s] 

crime  is  most  unchecked.  Here  also  the  strange  fact  appears 
that  these  are  all  massed  in  the  same  areas.  What  have  the 
missionaries  done  to  remove  them?     To  whom  do  they  call? 

Suggestions  for  Discussion  and  Action 

I.     Cost  of  Poverty,  Disease,  and  Delinquency 

1.  What  percentage  of  the  people  is  a  drag  on  our  com- 
munity as  a  whole  because  of  poverty,  disease,  and  delin- 
quency ? 

2.  How  much  does  their  care  cost  the  public  ?  How  many 
people's  service  does  their  care  require? 

3.  Estimate  the  increase  in  the  productivity  of  our  com- 
munity if  poverty,  disease,  and  delinquency  were  eliminated. 

n.    Saving  the  Community  Loss 

1.  What  are  the  chief  causes  of  poverty  in  our  imme- 
diate neighborhood?  How  much  poverty  could  be  eliminated 
by  the  poor  themselves?  How  much  by  the  community? 
How  much  is  irremovable?    Why? 

2.  What  preventable  diseases  have  wrought  most  havoc 
in  our  town  the  past  year?  How  much  was  due  to  the  care- 
lessness of  the  individual?  How  much  to  the  carelessness 
of  the  community?  If  average  life  is  forty-five  years,  how 
many  years  were  lost  to  our  community  life  from  prevent- 
able diseases?  What  single  force  in  our  community  is  the 
most  destructive  of  health? 

3.  How  many  persons  were  convicted  of  crime  in  our 
community  last  year?  What  proportion  were  juvenile  de- 
linquents?   List  the  causes. 

HI.    Elimination  of  Poverty,  Disease,  and  Delinquency 

I.  What  is  the  most  immediate  step  in  elimination  of 
poverty  from  our  community?  Consider  higher  wages, 
relief  work,  a  thrift  campaign,  minimum  wage  law,  and  other 
possible  measures. 

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[V-s]       CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

2.  What  phases  of  a  public  health  program  in  our  town 
are  already  in  operation?    What  are  the  next  steps? 

3.  Is  the  point  of  view  in  local  treatment  of  criminals 
retribution  or  reformation?  What  immediate  changes  would 
the  latter  involve  in  the  trial  of  offenders  and  the  treat- 
ment of  criminals?  What  are  the  most  urgent  steps  in  the 
prevention  of  juvenile  delinquency? 

IV.    Poverty,  Disease,  and  Delinquency  in  Mission  Lands 

1.  Compare  the  general  conditions  of  poverty  in  India 
and  China  with  those  of  the  poorest  section  of  the  poorest 
community  we  know.  In  what  ways  does  missionary  work 
affect  these  conditions? 

2.  Consider  the  relative  chances  of  preventing  and  re- 
covering from  disease  in  the  Orient  or  Africa  and  in 
America.  How  does  this  affect  our  view  of  medical 
missions?  What  is  the  true  function  of  the  Christian 
doctor? 

3.  Describe  prevalent  methods  of  treating  moral  offenders 
in  the  Near  and  the  Far  East. 


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CHAPTER  VI 
PROTECTING  THE  WORKER 

At  the  foundation  of  community  life  is  the  mass  of  manual 
labor.  What  does  industry  do  to  the  folks  at  the  bottom? 
They  have  long  been  the  mud-sill  of  the  community  house, 
over  which  the  rest  of  its  people  have  walked  to  comfort  or  to 
power.  The  vast  hordes  of  slaves  who  toiled  under  the  bitter 
lash  to  build  the  great  monuments  of  history  have  passed 
into  oblivion.  What  value  has  the  life  of  the  common  man 
today  in  Africa  or  India  or  China?  What  is  the  fate  of  the 
unskilled  workers  in  our  own  construction  camps  and  vast 
industrial  enterprises?  "We  think  no  more  of  killing  a  man 
than  of  killing  a  dog,"  said  a  fighting  man  in  the  Balkans. 
And  an  American  manufacturer  says  of  the  effect  of  his 
industry  on  immigrant  workers :  "We  eat  'em  alive."  Are  we 
grinding  up  in  our  machines  the  strength  of  manhood,  the 
laughter  of  children,  the  yearning  heart  of  motherhood,  to 
make  "cheap  goods  and  nasty"?  The  Christian  community  is 
beginning  to  measure  its  industry  by  Jesus'  principle  of  rever- 
ence for  personality.    Can  it  stand  the  test? 

Daily  Meditations 
First  Day:  Getting  a  Right  Attitude  Toward  the  Worker 

And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  when  Moses 
was  grown  up,  that  he  went  out  unto  his  brethren, 
and  looked  on  their  burdens :  and  he  saw  an  Egyptian 
smiting  a  Hebrew,  one  of  his  brethren.  And  he  looked 
this  way  and  that  way,  and  when  he  saw  that  there 
was  no  man,  he  smote  the  Egyptian,  and  hid  him  in 
the  sand. — Exodus  2:  ii,  12. 

Read  Exodus  5 :  1-4. 

Here  is  the  reaction  of  one  strong  man  to  injustice.  Moses 
had  to  learn  in  the  desert  a  different  method,  and  then,  out  of 

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[VI-2]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

that  labor  struggle,  there  slowly  came  the  Hebrew  nation  with 
all  of  its  contribution  to  the  social  and  religious  enrich- 
ment of  mankind.  It  is  significant  that  life  in  the  palace  had 
not  paralyzed  the  sympathies  of  Moses  or  deadened  his  sense 
of  justice.  Lord  Shaftesbury  endured  the  bitter  hatred  of  his 
fellow-peers  in  England,  but  he  wrote  the  first  chapter  of 
modern  labor  legislation.  Jane  Addams  went  from  college  to 
share  the  life  of  the  workers  in  Chicago  and  become  a  mighty 
force  in  leading  her  state  and  the  nation  to  a  new  estimate 
of  human  values.  Already  there  are  signs  that  the  next 
quarter  of  a  century  will  see  strong  men  of  the  nations  of 
the  East  rise  up,  under  the  stimulus  of  Christianity,  to  lead 
in  the  emancipation  of  its  workers.  If  industrial  management 
had  the  human  point  of  view,  would  it  be  necessary  for  the 
community  to  legislate  so  carefully  for  the  protection  of  the 
workers?  How  can  more  college  men  be  led  to  see  the  human 
values  in  industry  and  to  conserve  them? 

Second  Day  :  The  Value  of  a  Life 

And  he  departed  thence,  and  went  into  their  syna- 
gogue:  and  behold,  a  man  having  a  withered  hand. 
And  they  asked  him,  saying.  Is  it  lawful  to  heal  on 
the  sabbath  day?  that  they  might  accuse  him.  And  he 
said  unto  them.  What  man  shall  there  be  of  you,  that 
shall  have  one  sheep,  and  if  this  fall  into  a  pit  on  the 
sabbath  day,  will  he  not  lay  hold  on  it,  and  lift  it  out? 
How  much  then  is  a  man  of  more  value  than  a  sheep ! 
Wherefore  it  is  lawful  to  do  good  on  the  sabbath  day. 
— Matt.  12:  9-12. 

Jesus  astutely  turns  the  tables  on  the  scribes  and  Phari- 
sees. He  takes  them  back  to  the  authority  of  the  very  law 
which  they  have  been  evading  in  their  religious  conventions. 
They  display  much  the  same  reaction  to  his  healing  a  man 
on  the  Sabbath  as  some  very  good  Christians  had  to  the  use  of 
the  churches  by  the  unemployed  during  an  unemployment  crisis 
one  recent  winter.  Sabbath  keeping  and  property  rights 
superior  to  human  needs ! 

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.  PROTECTING  THE  WORKER  [VI-3I 

Slowly  but  surely  the  Christian  standard  of  values  has  been 
set  up  in  the  world.  "The  great  thought  of  the  present  cen- 
tury is  the  transference  of  value  from  property  to  humanity," 
says  the  dean  of  a  great  law  school. 

Our  legislatures  now  give  attention  to  eight-hour  laws 
and  minimum  wage  bills.  Congress  considers  poisonous  sul- 
phur in  the  match  industry,  as  well  as  the  claims  of  the  pork 
barrel.  But  it  is  still  difficult  enough  to  secure  adequate  atten- 
tion for  humanitarian  legislation.  A  prominent  Sunday  school 
worker  was  recently  found  at  the  State  House  opposing  child 
labor  legislation,  and  the  secretary  of  a  Christian  Association 
recently  lent  his  influence  to  the  same  cause.  How  can  we  help 
such  men  to  see  more  clearly  the  nature  of  the  struggle? 

Third  Day:  The  Workers  Want  a  Chance  at  Life 
A  college  graduate  who  had  made  a  great  success  in  a  min- 
ing enterprise  was  telling  his  bishop  what  new  comforts  and 
luxuries  he  proposed  to  give  his  family  the  following  year. 
"But,"  said  the  bishop,  "what  about  the  men  in  the  mines ; 
should  they  not  have  more  pay  and  higher  standards  of 
living?"  "Yes,"  said  the  college  man,  "they  ought  to  have 
them,  but  my  family  comes  first.  I  cannot  do  both,  and  we 
simply  must  have  these  things."  In  what  did  his  attitude  differ 
from  that  of  the  old  Greeks  who  regarded  the  workers  as  an 
'inferior   class? 

A  manual  laborer,  writing  to  a  sympathetic  friend  of  wealth 
living  in  the  same  city,  records  his  deep  sense  of  injustice 
at  the  two  standards  of  living  conditions.  They  were  living 
in  wholly  different  worlds.  Is  this  compatible  with  Paul's 
great  declaration  that  "all  are  one  in  Christ  Jesus"?  If  this 
barrier  is  to  be  crossed  in  religion,  must  it  not  also  be  crossed 
in  the  world  of  economic  and  social  relations  between  races 
as  well  as  classes  ?    Read  Gal.  3  :  23-28. 

Fourth  Day:  A  Rest  Day  Helps 

Observe  the  sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy,  as  Jehovah 
thy  God  commanded  thee.     Six  days  shalt  thou  labor, 

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IVI-5]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

and  do  all  thy  work;  but  the  seventh  day  is  a  sabbath 
unto  Jehovah  thy  God :  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any 
work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  nor  thy 
man-servant,  nor  thy  maid-servant,  nor  thine  ox,  nor 
thine  ass,  nor  any  of  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger 
that  is  within  thy  gates;  that  thy  man-servant  and 
thy  maid-servant  may  rest  as  well  as  thou.  And  thou 
shalt  remember  that  thou  wast  a  servant  in  the  land 
of  Egypt,  and  Jehovah  thy  God  brought  thee  out 
thence  by  a  mighty  hand  and  by  an  outstretched  arm : 
therefore  Jehovah  thy  God  commanded  thee  to  keep 
the  sabbath  day. — Deut.  5:  12-15. 

Here  is  an  ancient  community  regulation  for  securing 
a  rest  day.  The  service  which  God  required  on  this  day  was 
that  men  should  cease  from  labor  and  give  the  same  priv- 
ilege to  the  immigrant  worker  who  was  employed  by  them. 
Our  Sabbath  regulation  has  been  based  upon  a  different  idea. 
It  has  been  an  attempt  to  secure  the  observance  of  the  day. 
Now  we  are  attempting  to  secure  legislation  based  squarely 
on  this  rest-day  principle.  But  the  monotonous  and  confining 
nature  of  modern  industry  makes  this  more  necessary  than 
ever  before.  At  least  a  million  men  in  the  United  States 
work  seven  days  a  week.  The  effort  for  a  rest  day  goes  back 
to  the  very  roots  of  our  religious  development.  Does  this 
not  suggest  the  religious  value  of  the  shorter  work  day? 
It  puts  God  out  into  the  life  of  the  common  people.  How  does 
the  realization  of  this  fact  make  labor  legislation  a  spiritual 
endeavor?  Meditate  upon  the  rights  of  Jesus  as  a  worker  at 
a  modern  carpenter's  bench !  In  many  lands  toil  never  ceases 
for  rest  days.  As  modern  industry  is  being  introduced  no 
day  of  rest  has  yet  been   recognized. 

Fifth  Day:  What  Counts  More  Than  Results? 

An  efficiency  engineer  was  recently  asked  if  one  result  of 
the  efficiency  movement  was  not  to  increase  unemployment, 
to  push  out  into  the  ranks  of  the  unemployed  those  who  are 
unable  to  keep  up  with  the   speed  of  the  system.     He  ad- 

80 


■     PROTECTING  THE  WORKER  [VI-6] 

mitted  that  this  was  so,  but  declared  it  was  no  concern  of  his. 
Was   he   right? 

A  salesman  who  had  worked  many  years  for  a  large  con- 
cern, and  had  tried  in  vain  to  buy  stock  in  the  business  and 
thus  provide  for  his  old  age,  was  recently  told  that  if  he 
could  not  keep  up  to  the  pace  set  by  the  younger  men  his 
route  would  have  to  be  taken  away  and  given  to  another; 
that  the  management  could  not  consider  age  nor  years  of 
service,  but  simply  the  turning  in  of  business.  This  sounds 
strangely  like  the  treatment  of  aged  animals  by  the  fierce 
young  leaders  of  a  roving  pack.  Does  anything  count  more 
than  "results"? 

Both  these  incidents  reveal  an  attitude  which  is  being 
abandoned  by  the  more  humane  managers  in  industry.  Are 
there  murderers  in  the  industrial  world  today?  Read  Gen. 
4:  1-15.  From  that  cry  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  a 
long  road  to  travel.  Would  we  get  social  justice  quicker  if 
the  captains  of  'industry  had  sometimes  to  change  places  with 
the  unemployed ;  if  they  had  to  stand  for  a  while  in  the  bread- 
lines, and  sleep  in  the  park? 

Sixth  Day:  Who  Gets  Too  Much? 

For  the  love  of  money  is  a  root  of  all  kinds  of  evil : 
which  some  reaching  after  have  been  led  astray  from 
the  faith,  and  have  pierced  themselves  through  with 
many  sorrows. — I  Tim.  6:  10. 

If  the  workers  desire  more  money  because  they  seek  higher 
standards  of  living,  good  things  for  homes  and  children,  then 
their  desire  becomes  a  spiritual  force  and  makes  for  the  prog- 
ress of  the  whole  community.  Whether  or  not  the  love  of 
money  is  to  be  a  root  of  all  kinds  of  evil  depends  upon 
whether  it  is  sought  for  self,  or  is  a  social  desire  leading  to 
higher  standards  of  living. 

The  community  which  has  accepted  the  standards  revealed 
in  the  Bible  has  always  sought  something  approaching  equality 
of  income.    One  purpose  of  the  Hebrew  law  was  that  no  man 


[VI-7]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

might  be  born  into  poverty.  When  Nehemiah  tried  to  reor- 
ganize the  life  of  Jerusalem,  he  persuaded  the  rich  to  return 
to  the  poor  the  interest  on  their  mortgages.  The  Jerusalem 
community  of  early  Christians  attempted  to  raise  the  standard 
of  living  for  all.  To  realize  such  a  standard  will  require 
much  effort  and  some  sacrifice  by  the  strong.  Are  we  willing 
to  limit  our  income  for  the  sake  of  justice  in  the  community? 
Is  there  hope  that  men  will  be  fair  about  the  profits  they  exact 
from  the  poor  of  the  community,  or  shall  we  be  driven  to 
fix  prices  by  law? 

Seventh  Day:  Labor  Serves  Human  Needs 

For  which  is  greater,  he  that  sitteth  at  meat,  or  he 
that  serveth?  is  not  he  that  sitteth  at  meat?  but  I  am 
in  the  midst  of  you  as  he  that  serveth. — Luke  22 :  27. 

Recall  the  attitude  of  Jesus  toward  service. — Luke 
22:  24-27;  John  13:  1-17. 

Jesus  was  teaching  his  disciples  that  the  highest  freedom 
and  joy  of  life  come  only  to  one  who  is  able  to  take  the  atti- 
tude of  service.  Is  this  spiritual  privilege  to  be  confined  to 
certain  classes  of  people  and  to  certain  spheres  of  life?  When 
the  United  States  Government  classifies  the  different  occu- 
pations of  the  country,  it  puts  one  group  under  the  head  of 
"personal  service."  The  minister,  the  lawyer,  the  physician, 
the  nurse,  the  teacher — they  serve  human  needs  directly. 
Workers  in  commerce  and  industry  serve  more  remotely. 
The  more  complex  the  industry  becomes,  the  more  difficult  it 
is  for  those  who  are  engaged  in  it  to  see  how  they  are  serv- 
ing human  needs.  They  seem  to  be  merely  making  money  for 
some  corporation,  for  some  employer,  or  for  themselves. 
The  whole  process  tends  to  become  a  sharing  of  the  spoils 
instead  of  cooperative  community  service.  Can  the  best  work 
ever  be  done  when  people  are  working  primarily  for  profit? 
Here  is  the  great  question  of  industry :  Can  it  be  organized 
into  a  cooperative  human  service  to  make  personalities  as  well 
as  to  coin  dollars? 

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.      PROTECTING  THE  WORKER  [VI-s] 

Study  for  the  Week 

I 

"They  build  the  roadway  over  which  the  Pullman  car  runs, 
but  they  never  ride  in  it;  they  cut  the  lumber  that  goes  into 
mansions,  but  they  live  in  vermin-infected  shacks  in  the 
woods,  and  in  ten-cent  lodging  houses  in  the  city;  they  gather 
the  wheat  that  nourishes  the  nation,  but  they  waste  away  into 
nameless  graves  from  under-nourishment,  exposure,  and  vice ; 
they  harvest  the  ice  that  cools  the  sick  child  in  our  homes,  but 
they  have  no  family  of  their  own."  So  writes  an  American 
minister  of  our  wandering  seasonal  labor  group.  How  much 
better  off  are  they  than  a  similar  group  described  by  an  ancient 
poet? 

They  go  about  naked  without  clothing, 
And  being  hungry  they  carry  the  sheaves. 
They  make  oil  within  the  walls  of  these  men ; 
They  tread  their  winepresses,  and  suffer  thirst. 
From  out  of  the  populous  city  men  groan, 
And  the   soul  of   the   wounded   crieth   out. — Job  24: 
10-12. 

"How  many  of  you  men  have  ever  been  married?"  asked 
a  minister  who  houses  every  winter  three  hundred  homeless 
seasonal  laborers.  Less  than  ten  hands  went  up.  "Why  not?" 
The  most  intelligent  man  answered  as  he  pulled  out  a  little 
note-book:  "I  have  kept  a  record,"  said  he,  "of  my  income  and 
expenses  for  the  last  three  years.  I  have  never  made  four 
hundred  dollars  in  any  year.  If  I  should  marry  a  woman,  it 
would  mean  that  when  the  kids  began  to  come  she  would  have 
to  go  out  to  the  wash-tub.    I  won't  ask  any  woman  to  do  that." 

More  tragic  still  is  the  portion  of  working  women.  "You 
must  go  to  work,"  said  a  prosperous  business  man  to  the  strik- 
ing garment  worker,  an  imm.igrant  girl.  "The  community  will 
not  support  you.  If  you  want  to  live  you  must  work."  "I 
live  not  much  on  forty-nine  cent  a  day,"  was  the  answer. 

"Why  are  you  getting  up  so  early?"  said  the  mother  to 
the  daughter  in  the  tenement.    "It's  not  time  to  go  to  the  mill 

83 


[VI-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

yet."  "I'm  not  going  today ;  I'm  going  to  work  for  Votes  for 
Women.  It's  not  for  me;  it's  for  Maggie  in  there  (the  thir- 
teen-year-old sister  who  was  asleep).  Look  at  me — I've  been 
three  years  in  the  mill.  Will  any  man  want  me  now?  I 
want  things  to  be  different  for  her." 

In  the  rocks  along  the  cliff  shores  of  the  Upper  Yangtze 
River  are  thousands  of  grooves  worn  deep  in  the  solid  stone 
made  by  the  friction  of  bamboo  ropes  during  long  centuries 
as  boats  have  been  dragged  up  the  cruel  rapids  by  man  power. 
They  are  monuments  to  conditions  of  labor  untouched  by 
Christian  ideals  in  a  non-Christian  land. 

And  now  comes  the  exploitation  of  modern  industry. 
"Each  evening  along  the  streets  near  the  mills  in  Shanghai," 
reports  Robert  E.  Speer,  "two  long  precessions  move,  the 
women  and  the  children  on  their  way  to  the  mills,  and  the 
women  and  the  children  on  their  way  home.  It  is  a  tragic 
company,  for  the  mills  run  night  and  day,  week-day  and  Sun- 
day, in  two  long  twelve-hour  shifts.  Children  of  eight  and 
ten  are  trudging  along  with  their  rice  bowls  in  their  hands, 
and  many  of  the  women  with  them  tramp  stiffly  on  their  bound 
and  hampered  feet.  All  day  and  all  night  long  the  women  sit 
by  the  looms  and  the  children  stand  before  the  spindles — little 
wizened  creatures,  the  threads  of  whose  frail  lives  are  being 
spun  into  the  cotton,  and  the  guilt  of  their  blood  pressed  out 
into  the  cloth." 

If  these  pictures  seem  overdrawn,  make  one  for  yourself 
out  of  the  industrial  facts  to  which  you  have  access.  When 
the  strength  of  the  factory  girl  is  exhausted  by  the  speeding- 
up  process,  does  she  get  the  same  care  as  the  woman  who 
breaks  down  in  the  "higher"  pursuits?  Who  cares  for  the 
homeless  and  unemployed  working  woman?  Compare  fairly 
the  conditions  of  life  and  labor  in  your  own  community  for 
the  two  groups  of  workers — the  business  and  professional 
groups  and  those  who  do  the  so-called  common  labor.  Are  we 
satisfied  with  the  contrast?  Are  we  ready  to  sympathize  effec- 
tively with  the  efforts  of  the  workers  to  protect  themselves? 
After  all,  in  fairness,  should  not  those  doing  the  most  dis- 

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PROTECTING  THE  WORKER  [VI-s] 

tasteful  and  hardest  work  receive  the  higher  pay  and  have  the 
shorter  hours? 

Conditions  among  laborers  in  every  part  of  America,  in 
every  part  of  the  world  concern  us,  for  multitudes  of  these 
workers  are,  in  a  very  real  sense,  our  employes.  We  all  use 
the  help  of  masses  of  laborers :  the  garment-makers  of  New 
York  City,  the  silk  weavers  of  Japan,  the  rubber  porters  of 
Africa,  the  coffee  cultivators  of  Brazil  and  the  tea  pluckers 
of  India  and  Ceylon.  Are  we  Christian  enough  to  want 
justice  for  the  workers  everywhere? 

n 

The  first  expression  of  the  sacr^dness  of  personality  in  the 
world  of  work  is  to  give  to  those  who  do  the  common  labor 
the  same  chance  to  live  as  all  others.  The  wives  of  the  Breton 
fishermen  have  a  saying :  "The  sea  is  hungry,  we  must  bear 
many  sons."  But  the  mine  and  the  factory  have  been  just 
as  hungry  for  the  lives  of  the  workers.  Appalled  by  the 
slaughter  of  industry,  the  Western  nations  have  been  taking 
steps  to  check  it.  Our  nation  has  begun  by  safeguarding 
machinery  and  making  factories  more  healthy ;  by  its  "Safety 
First"  movement,  educating  both  employers  and  careless  work- 
men. 

The  risk  of  preventable  accidents,  however,  is  only  a  small 
part  of  the  worker's  extra  hazard.  He  is  constantly  exposed 
to  occupational  diseases.  There  are  over  fifty-seven  distinct 
trade  poisons  lurking  in  modern  industry  to  destroy  the  life 
and  health  of  its  workers.  The  bad  air  diseases  which  claim 
so  large  a  part  of  our  death  rate  take  their  heaviest  toll  from 
industrial  workers  in  the  dust  trades.  The  dust  of  the  coal 
mine  and  the  emery  wheel,  the  lint  of  the  cotton  mill,  the  stale 
air  of  the  tenement,  feed  upon  the  lungs  of  the  workers  and 
never  go  hungry.  "Government  statistics  show,"  says  Dr. 
Sidney  Gulick,  "that  out  of  every  one  hundred  girls  to  enter 
upon  factory  work  in  Japan,  twenty-three  die  within  one 
year  of  their  return  to  their  homes,  and  of  these  fifty  per  cent 
die  of  tuberculosis."     The  pathologists  class  the  largest  pro- 

85 


[VI-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

portion  of  our  present  diseases  as  misery  diseases,  due  to 
improper  conditions  of  life  and  labor.  From  this  group  the 
manual  workers  suffer  much  more  heavily  than  the  rest  of  the 
population.  Their  under-nourished  bodies,  their  ignorance  of 
personal  hygiene,  make  them  easy  victims  to  the  "pestilence 
that  wasteth  at  noon-day." 

Sum  up  the  extra  hazard  of  the  industrial  worker  from  all 
causes,  and  it  means  that  he  may  expect  to  live  only  a  trifle 
more  than  half  the  average  life  of  the  worker  in  intellectual 
pursuits.  All  of  us  must  play  the  game  with  death,  but  when 
we  send  ignorant  men  and  women  out  into  modern  industry 
to  face  death  from  concealed  risks  of  which  they  are  ignor- 
ant, we  are  forcing  them  to  play  the  game  with  death  after 
the  dice  have  been  loaded  against  them.  "Thou  shalt  not  kill" 
is  one  of  the  first  expressions  of  religion  in  community  life. 
Is  it  not  just  as  binding  on  the  indirect,  preventable  killings 
of  an  industrial  civilization  as  on  the  primitive  blood-lust  of 
the  ancient  Orient?  How  does  it  challenge  Christian  pioneer- 
ing in  both  medical  science  and  industrial  management? 

Ill 

In  the  winter  of  1913-14  great  throngs  of  unemployed  men 
hammered  at  the  conscience  of  the  nation.  The  people  awoke 
to  the  fact  that  those  who  want  work  and  cannot  find  it  are 
a  tragic  reality  in  our  social  order.  Statesmen,  industrial 
leaders,  and  preachers  declared  that  unemployment  must  be 
faced  and  solved.  In  two  years  prosperity  returned  and  the 
unemployed  were  immediately  forgotten.  Yet  during  the 
regular  course  of  industry  there  is  a  permanent  fringe  of 
unemployment  around  every  trade  and  in  every  community. 
The  tragic  figure  of  the  man  or  woman  who  wants  work  and 
cannot  find  it  is  always  with  us.  The  seasonal  trades  con- 
tinually turn  their  workers  adrift.  The  pressure  of  speed  in 
modern  efficiency  schemes  pushes  the  dead-line  back  nearer  to 
the  beginning  of  the  workers'  career.  "No  man  over  thirty- 
five  need  apply"  is  a  constantly  increasing  order,  and  the 
further  down  in  the  scale  of  work  we  go,  the  less  secure  is 

86 


PROTECTING  THE  WORKER  [VI-s] 

a  man's  grip  upon  his  employment.  The  lower  the  wage,  the 
less  able  he  is  to  provide  against  unemployment,  the  more 
likely  he  is  to  have  to  endure  it. 

Morality  sags  under  unemployment.  The  saloon  becomes 
more  attractive  than  the  dirty  and  complaining  home.  What 
is  at  first  "the  bitter  bread  of  charity"  comes  to  be  eaten  with 
contentment.  No  man  looks  the  world  in  the  face  with  inde- 
pendence when  he  knows  not  where  his  next  meal  is  coming 
from.  The  first  move  of  the  Christian  conscience  is  to 
supply  relief.  But  to  give  men  charity  when  they  want  work 
soon  brings  demoralization.     It  makes  human  derelicts. 

Valuable  programs  of  public  work  for  the  unemployed  have 
been  worked  out  in  Europe.  But  the  real  solution  of  the 
problem  lies  in  the  reorganization  of  industry  for  the  produc- 
tion of  men  and  not  simply  'the  making  of  goods.  When 
industry  is  humanized,  it  will  be  seen  to  be  the  maintenance 
of  the  whole  population  steadily  at  work  for  the  benefit  of  the 
whole  community. 

IV 

Modern  science  has  discovered  that  over-work  is  just  as 
dangerous  as  under-work.  There  is  no  more  brilliant  chapter 
in  recent  medical  and  industrial  research  than  that  which 
deals  with  the  results  of  fatigue.  Because  it  makes  for  disease 
and  death  by  lowering  vitality  and  lessening  resistance  power, 
the  physicians  are  fighting  it.  Because  of  its  economic  loss, 
the  managers  of  industry  are  overcoming  it.  Because  the  com- 
munity has  traced  its  results  in  depleted  motherhood,  in 
sterility,  in  stunted  children,  short-hour  laws  for  women 
have  been  passed.  The  moral  and  spiritual  effects  of  fatigue 
must  be  reckoned  with  by  all  who  seek  to  Christianize  the 
community.  The  studies  of  our  twelve-hour  industries  prove 
that  the  exhaustion  of  over-work  is  followed  by  debauch. 
Fatigue  lowers  the  resistance  power  of  the  moral  nature  to 
temptation,  just  as  it  lessens  the  resistance  of  the  body  to  dis- 
ease. The  pressure  of  monotonous,  exhausting  industry  upon 
girls  is  a  far  more  powerful  factor  in  leading  to  moral  down- 

87 


[VI-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

fall  than  any  sharp  choice  between  low  wages  and  the  easy 
money  of  wrong-doing.  During  a  certain  period  in  Osaka 
one-half  of  the  number  of  criminal  girls  arrested  had  been 
factory  hands.  Can  those  who  have  been  released  from  fatigue 
endure  that  the  weaker  should  suffer  this  physical  and  moral 
pressure? 

Legislation  stops  at  the  point  of  fatigue.  Can  the  Christian 
conscience  rest  there?  Must  it  not  demand  for  labor  the  same 
right  of  development  that  is  enjoyed  by  any  other  group  in 
the  community?  The  developing  life  depends  upon  adequate 
leisure.  Raymond  Robins  says  that  when  he  worked  in  a 
coal  mine  twelve  hours  a  day,  the  only  thing  he  felt  like  doing 
with  his  evenings  was  to  spend  them  in  the  saloon,  but  when 
he  got  work  in  a  metal  mine  in  the  West  with  an  eight-hour 
day,  he  began  to  read.  It  was  the  opening  of  his  career. 
Modern  machinery  and  organization  have  made  possible  the 
relief  of  labor  from  excessive  toil.  Who  are  obligated  above 
others  to  see  that  this  benefit  is  not  appropriated  forever  by 
the  few,  but  actually  shared  by  the  many? 


In  India,  ten  or  twelve  cents  is  the  day's  wage  for  the 
manual  labor  of  men,  three  or  four  cents  for  women.  The 
wage  of  the  common  laborer  in  non-Christian  countries  aver- 
ages about  one  eighth  to  one  tenth  that  in  America.  It  is 
not  enough  to  answer  that  living  is  cheap.  It  is  a  low  stand- 
ard of  living  that  makes  it  possible  for  a  vast  majority  of 
people  in  these  lands  to  live  at  all. 

Even  in  America  in  normal  times  fifty  per  cent  of  the  adult 
male  workers  earn  less  than  $500  a  year — less  than  enough 
to  provide  a  decent  standard  of  living  for  the  average  family. 
We  are  again  face  to  face  with  the  effects  of  industrial  con- 
ditions upon  the  higher  life.  The  lack  of  a  living  wage  joins 
with  overwork  to  weaken  the  physical  and  moral  vitality  of  the 
worker.  Family  Hfe,  the  first  school  of  morals,  is  reduced 
to  its  lowest  power.  The  relation  between  wages  and  vice 
has  perhaps  been  overstated,  but  the  undeniable  fact  is  that  the 


.    PROTECTING  THE  WORKER  [VI-s] 

armies  of  vice  are  recruited  from  the  regions  of  low  income. 
The  Illinois  State  Vice  Commission  reports:  "Your  Com- 
mittee finds  (i)  That  poverty  is  the  principal  cause,  direct 
and  indirect,  of  prostitution."  It  is  the  result  of  the  contin- 
uous pressure  of  poverty  upon  the  life  of  the  family  as  well  as 
that  of  the  growing  girl.  This  is  also  the  root  cause  of  the 
heavy  mortality  and  delinquency  rate  of  industrial  workers. 
The  results  must  be  reckoned  in  community  terms.  When 
industry  maintains  itself  by  paying  less  than  living  wages,  it 
is  piling  up  a  great  deficit  in  human  life  for  the  community 
to  meet.  Does  this  imply  that  the  first  charge  upon  any 
industry  must  be  the  proper  maintenance  of  all  who  are 
engaged  in  it? 

Again  the  Christian  conscience  has  recorded  itself  on  the 
statute  books,  but  dare  we  stop  with  minimum  wage  laws? 
A  minimum  wage  will  give  a  living,  but  it  will  not  give  a 
life.  It  takes  income  to  provide  books,  recreation,  the  means 
for  spiritual  development.  The  desire  for  income  is  one  of 
the  greatest  forces  for  spiritual  progress.  "They  will  want 
pianos  in  their  homes  next,"  said  one  indignant  business  man 
when  the  workers  of  his  community  were  demanding  higher 
wages.  The  ideal  of  the  abundant  life  for  all  the  people  could 
be  realized  in  the  United  States.  It  would  require  more 
personal  efficiency,  but  the  greatest  barrier  is  the  fact  that  the 
income  from  the  ownership  of  property  is  greater  than  the 
income  from  service  rendered  to  the  common  life.  If  it  is 
impossible  for  all  to  get  what  you  now  enjoy,  are  you  willing 
to  take  less  in  order  that  others  may  have  more? 

VI 

Does  the  pursuit  of  social  justice  stop  with  the  attainment  of 
higher  wages  and  shorter  hours?  This  is  the  final  question: 
Must  the  worker  be  less  than  a  full  personality  at  his  place 
of  work,  or  shall  he  be  set  free  for  full  development  in  and  by 
his  labor?  Most  college  men  and  women  grow  in  and  through 
their  work.  How  can  this  spiritual  privilege  be  open  to  all 
the   workers  throughout  the   labor   world?     A   modern  poet 

89 


[VI-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

describes  Jesus  going  through  a  great  factory,  not  impressed 
hy  its  marvelous  machinery,  its  speed,  its  skill,  but  still  look- 
ing. He  is  looking,  he  says,  for  his  singing-man — the  majn 
whom  his  Father  made  to  sing  at  his  work.  Will  he  look  in 
vain? 

Suggestions  for  Discussion  and  Action 

I.  Conditions    of    Labor    (Study    agricultural    or    industrial 

conditions   according  to   type   of   community.) 

1.  What  is  the  net  yearly  wage  of  typical  working  men? 
Of  women?  How  much  does  the  average  workingman's 
family  need  for  the  yearly  budget?  How  nearly  do  they 
get  it? 

2.  What  are  the  prevailing  hours  of  labor  among  workers 
in  the  local  community?  How  much  seven-day  work  is 
there?  How  much  room  do  the  hours  of  labor  leave  for 
home,  church,  recreation,  and  other  aspects  of  a  growing 
life? 

3.  Study  the  local  labor  situation  to  see  whether  health 
is  endangered  from  fatigue  due  to  length  of  hours,  over- 
speeding  or  rush  seasons,  undue  nervous  tension.  What 
are  the  special  dangers  of  overwork  on  the  part  of  women? 

4.  What  are  the  most  frequent  occupational  accidents? 
What  have  been  their  consequences  during  the  past  year? 
What  has  been  done  to  prevent  their  recurrence? 

5.  What  are  the  prevalent  occupational  diseases  in  the 
community?  How  much  unemployment  and  death  are 
they  responsible  for?  What  preventive  measures  have  been 
initiated  ? 

6.  What  further  measures  are  needed  to  protect  the 
workers  against  accidents  and  diseases? 

7.  In  what  ways  do  these  conditions  challenge  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  social  principles  of  Jesus? 

II.  The  Square  Deal  for  Labor 

I.    What  nationalities  in  the  community   do  the  lowest 
90 


PROTECTING  THE  WORKER  [VI-s] 

grade  labor?  What  do  they  do?  To  what  extent  are  for- 
eigners discriminated  against  in  the  matter  of  hours  and 
wages? 

2.  Compare  thoroughly  the  conditions  of  working  and 
living  in  the  community,  of  the  labor  group  with  the  pro- 
fessional group ;  with  the  business  group. 

III.  Labor  Conditions  at  Home  and  Abroad 

1.  Study  the  industrial  or  agricultural  conditions  in  Japan 
or  other  foreign  countries.  Compare  the  labor  and  living 
conditions  of  the  workers  in  that  country  with  those  in  our 
community.  Compare  the  ratio  between  the  wages  and  cost 
of  living  in  the  two  countries. 

2.  To  what  extent  is  America  responsible  for  these  con- 
ditions? What  effect  do  they  have  upon  the  American  labor 
situation  ? 

3.  To  what  extent  are  foreign  missionary  enterprises 
being  planned  to  change  the  working  and  living  conditions 
of  the  people?  What  particular  measures  are  in  operation? 
What  effects  are  they  having? 

IV.  Community  Responsibility 

1.  Who  is  to  blame? 

a.  When  the  wages  of  a  worker  will  not  allow  him  to 

send  his  children  to  church  or  to  public  school? 

b.  When  a   working  girl's  health  and  morals  break 

from  over-fatigue? 

c.  When  the  supporter  of  the  family  is  killed  at  an 

unguarded  machine? 

d.  When  a  family  starves  in  a  period  of  unemploy- 

ment? 

2.  What  is  the  way  out?  Is  it  laws  governing  wages  and 
hours,  state  regulation  of  industry,  governmental  owner- 
ship, or  what  is  it? 

3.  What  can  a  local  community  do  about  it?  What  can 
a  local  church  do  to  serve  the  labor  group? 

91 


CHAPTER  VII 

INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY 

When  the  teachings  of  Jesus  led  men  to  call  each  other 
"brother,"  the  doom  of  slavery  was  sealed.  It  later  made  the 
feudal  state  impossible.  The  serf  became  a  citizen.  Is  there 
now  a  similar  task  confronting  the  fraternal  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity? Are  new  lords  established  in  our  midst?  Is  despot- 
ism making  its  last  stand  behind  the  bulwarks  of  our  indus- 
trial system? 

Daily  Mediiations 

First  Day:  Wanted:  More  than  a  Full  Dinner  Pail 

But  he  answered  and  said,  It  is  written,  Man  shall 
not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  pro- 
ceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God. — Matt.  4:  4. 

This  teaching  has  long  been  applied  to  the  life  of  the  indi- 
vidual. Christianity  has  never  been  content  with  external 
results.  It  has  sought  to  quicken  the  souls  of  men,  to  put 
them  in  touch  with  God.  This  same  search  is  now  being  car- 
ried over  to  the  collective  life.  The  nation  cannot  be  allowed 
to  content  itself  with  an  ideal  of  material  prosperity  alone, 
to  think  it  can  satisfy  the  workers  with  the  full  dinner  pail, 
or  justify  itself  before  God  merely  by  the  development  of 
welfare  work. 

In  a  government  factory  in  England  the  women  workers 
suffered  much  from  unhealthful  conditions.  Their  leaders 
got  the  wife  of  a  cabinet  minister  to  visit  the  factory.  One 
of  the  girls  was  carried  out  fainting  from  the  heat.  She  was 
laid  on  the  floor  and  water  thrown  over  her.  The  visitor  was 
horrified.    "Is  this  what  is  always  done?"  she  asked,  and  was 

92 


.     INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY  [VII-2] 

assured  that  it  happened  constantly.  "Something  must  be 
done  about  it,"  she  declared  as  she  went  away.  The  leaders 
of  the  workers  rested  in  hope  that  now  conditions  would  be 
changed.  A  few  weeks  later,  a  new  sofa  came  with  the  com- 
pliments of  the  good  lady.  She  wanted  the  girls  to  have  some- 
thing comfortable  to  faint  on! 

Christianity  has  developed  the  spirit  of  compassion,  but  is 
it  now  voicing  the  stern  demand  for  justice?  Is  it  now  creat- 
ing discontent',  both  among  employers  and  wage  earners,  with 
those  industrial  relations  that  destroy  brotherhood? 

Second  Day  :  Recognition  of  Human  Values 

Study  the  teachings«of  Jesus  concerning  the  sacred- 
ness  of  every  human  life. — Cf.  Matt.  6:  26-30. 

An  American  manufacturer  found  himself  on  an  ocean 
steamer  in  company  with  an  English  labor  leader.  After- 
ward he  told  a  friend,  "That  man  changed  my  view  of  my 
business.  I  had  thought  before  that  my  part  was  to  get  my 
material  in  the  lowest  market,  to  assemble  my  goods  as  cheaply 
and  well  as  possible  and  then  to  dispose  of  my  product  to  the 
best  advantage.  He  made  me  see  that  I  had  been  ignoring  the 
human  factor  in  production."  Here  is  an  application  of 
Jesus'  principle  of  the  sacredness  of  personality.  Men  who 
accept  this  can  no  longer  treat  labor  as  mere  raw  material. 
A  federal  law  now  declares,  "Labor  is  not  a  commodity  nor  an 
article  of  commerce." 

It  is  largely  a  question  of  personal  attitudes.  Do  we  treat 
the  helpers  in  kitchens,  factories,  and  offices  as  conveniences 
or  aids  to  our  success?  If  Jesus'  principle  of  the  sacredness 
of  personality  is  recognized  in  personal  attitudes,  the  methods 
of  industrial  democracy  will  develop  naturally  therefrom. 
Where  can  we  take  hold? 

Third  Day:  Christianity,  a  Breeder  of  Revolution 

And  when  they  found  them  not,  they  dragged  Jason 
and   certain   brethren   before   the   rulers   of   the   city, 

93 


[VII-4]   CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

crying,  These  that  have  turned  the  world  upside  down 
are  come  hither  also. — Acts  17:  6. 

What  was  the  occasion  of  this  violence? — Cf.  Acts 
17:  1-9- 

The  Roman  historian  puts  this  in  another  way.  He  de- 
clares: "Wherever  Christians  come  they  destroy  our  world; 
law  and  order  cease."  Christianity  has  ever  disturbed  the 
institutions  of  this  world.  It  must,  as  long  as  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world  are  not  the  kingdom  of  Jesus.  Disturbance  is 
inevitable  under  such  conditions.  There  is  bound  to  be  the 
breaking  of  the  crust  of  life  by  the  emergence  of  new  ideals. 
Christianity  has  been  in  deed  and  truth  a  breeder  of  revolu- 
tions. It  will  make  trouble  for  those  who  practice  it,  for 
those  who  resist  it,  and  for  those  who  are  content  with  a 
world  which  It  does  not  control.  n 

Those  who  live  from  the  liquor  traffic  think  it  irreligious 
for  the  church  to  Interfere  with  business.  Those  who  profit 
by  child-labor  declare  it  to  be  monstrous  that  the  pulpit  should 
interfere  with  industry.  A  nation  on  the  crest  of  a  war 
counts  it  treason  to  hold  out  for  peace.  The  missionary  is 
often  assailed   as  an  instigator  of  unrest. 

Not  many  years  ago  men  went  to  prison  in  England  for 
holding  a  meeting  demanding  the  right  of  every  man  to  vote. 
To  advocate  universal  suffrage  in  those  days  seemed  absolutely 
destructive  of  law  and  order.  Today  those  who  are  in  con- 
trol of  the  industrial  procedure  think  it  would  be  just  as 
revolutionary  to  advocate  the  extension  of  industrial  control 
to  all  the  people. 

Fourth  Day:  Leadership  versus  Mastery 

But  Peter  raised  him  up,  saying.  Stand  up;  I  myself 
also  am  a  man. — Acts  10:  26. 

What  led  Peter  to  this  statement? — Acts  10:  1-48. 

Here  speaks  Peter,  the  independent  Galilean.  But  Peter 
has  met  Jesus  and  become  a  fisher  of  men.  He  has  entered  a 
new  world  of  human  service.    He  has  gone  to  Jerusalem  with 

94 


INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY  [VII-5] 

the  Master  and  found  the  way  of  the  cross.  He  has  learned 
that  ambition  must  be  transformed  into  service.  He  has  seen 
the  selfish  jealousies  of  the  disciples  stilled  by  the  Master's 
great  example,  as  the  Teacher  became  the  Servant  and  washed 
the  feet  of  those  whom  he  taught.  This  kind  of  a  gospel 
makes  for  equality.  There  is  no  caste  when  a  man  has 
learned  the  lessons  of  the  grace  of  God,  for  it  eradicates  class 
distinctions.  They  run  deep.  In  the  servants'  quarters  of 
great  houses,  the  social  distinctions  of  the  world  up-stairs 
are  imitated.  "A  thrippence  won't  speak  to  a  tuppence,"  as  the 
saying  goes.  While  Christianity  has  been  breaking  down  these 
lines,  our  modern  industrial  organization  has  been  creating 
new  ones.  Recently  the  manager  of  a  public  service  corpora- 
tion informed  the  workers  that  he  would  not  arbitrate  with 
them.  "You  are  my  servants,"  said  he,  "and  I  do  not  arbitrate 
with  my  servants."  Can  he  sit  in  church  and  hear  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus,  and  then  go  down  to  his  house  justified?  Is  it  true 
that  Jesus'  instruction  to  his  disciples  not  to  be  like  the 
Gentiles,  but  rather  to  be  as  servants,  cannot  be  applied  in  the 
modern  world  of  work?  Can  the  world's  work  be  done  in 
this  way?  "No  orders  today"  is  the  card  above  the  desk  of  a 
Christian  man  who  conducts  a  worldwide  business  from  his 
office  in  New  York.  Men  ask  "Can  it  be  done  that  way?" 
He  does  it.    Others  do  it. 

Fifth  Day— The  Strong  are  Ministers 

But  it  is  not  so  among  you :  but  whosoever  would 
become  great  among  you,  shall  be  your  minister ;  and 
whosoever  would  be  first  among  you,  shali  be  servant 
of  all. — Mark  10:  43,  44. 

This  is  a  hard  saying  of  Jesus',  especially  to  those  who  would 
confine  his  teachings  only  to  the  spiritual  world.  Apply  this 
to  the  world  of  government  and  it  means  Liberty,  Equality, 
Fraternity.  Christianity  has  always  worked  for  a  leveling  up 
and  not  a  leveling  down.  Apply  the  same  teaching  to  the 
world  of  industry,  and  what  does  it  mean?     If  there  we  are 

95 


[VII-6]   CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

to  treat  men  as  brothers,  are  some  to  be  always  inferior? 
The  American  ambulance  men  during  the  Great  War  said 
that  the  English  officers  talked  to  them  as  though  they  were 
servants,  that  the  German  officers  insisted  upon  being  cared  for 
before  their  men.  This  grated  on  the  independent  and  demo- 
cratic American  spirit.  And  yet  America  is  in  danger  of 
carrying  these  attitudes  into  the  world  of  industry.  Is  the 
belief  spreading  that  well-to-do  and  educated  people  and  their 
children  should  be  reheved  from  difficult  and  dangerous 
work,  while  on  the  other  hand  there  must  always  be  a  per- 
manent group  condemned  to  soiled  hands  and  hazardous 
j  obs  ? 

Sixth  Day:  Workers  to  he  Owners 

For,  behold,  I  create  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth ; 
and  the  former  things  shall  not  be  remembered,  nor 
come  into  mind.  .  .  .  And  they  shall  build  houses, 
and  inhabit  them ;  and  they  shall  plant  vineyards,  and 
eat  the  fruit  of  them.  They  shall  not  build,  and  an- 
other inhabit ;  they  shall  not  plant,  and  another  eat : 
for  as  the  days  of  a  tree  shall  be  the  days  of  my 
people,  and  my  chosen  shall  long  enjoy  the  work  of 
their  hands.  They  shall  not  labor  in  vain,  nor  bring 
forth  for  calamity;  for  they  are  the  seed  of  the  blessed 
of  Jehovah,  and  their  offspring  with  them. — Isa.  65 : 
17,  21-23. 

This  great  vision  of  the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth  is 
seen  entirely  in  terms  of  the  improvement  of  the  life  of  the 
people  at  the  bottom.  They  are  released  from  tears  and  suffer- 
ing. They  dwell  in  peace  and  safety,  with  none  to  oppress 
and  make  them  afraid.  They  inhabit  the  houses  they  have 
builded  and  eat  the  fruit  which  they  have  planted.  Their 
spirits  are  developed  by  direct  contact  with  Jehovah.  Can 
such  a  social  order  involve  anything  less  than  that  the 
workers  shall  also  be  owners?  Where  does  the  obligation 
rest  to  discover  the  economic  methods  which  shall  make  it 
possible  for  all  workers  really  to  enjoy  the  full  fruit  of  their 

96 


INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY  [VII-7] 

own  labor?  Are  any  of  us  unwilling  that  it  should  be  done, 
or  would  we  welcome  it?  Can  we  not  achieve  an  order  of 
society,  in  America  at  least,  in  which  the  vision  of  Isaiah  and 
the  fundamental  principles  of  Jesus  shall  be  translated  into 
terms  of  action? 

Seventh  Day:  Cooperation 

But  Jesus  answered  them,  My  Father  worketh  even 
until  now,  and  I  work. — John  5  :  17. 

There  was  perfect  spiritual  unity  between  Jesus  and  the 
Father — a  relationship  of  absolute  cooperation.  But  this 
unity,  Jesus  says,  is  not  to  be  confined  to  the  Father  and  Son. 
Jesus  clearly  taught  that  his  followers  might  share  his  expe- 
rience and  relationship  with  God.  He  also  clearly  taught  that 
they  might  do  this  in  the  world  of  work,  at  the  carpenter's 
bench  as  well  as  on  the  mountain-top. 

Modern  science  shows  us  the  eternal  energy  at  work,  and 
discovers  new  methods  for  human  cooperation  with  Divine 
Power.    It  therefore  increases  religion. 

In  agriculture  and  industry  men  are  in  constant  touch  with 
God.  They  are  using  materials  which  he  has  made,  and  are 
continually  cooperating  with  him  through  what  they  are 
pleased  to  call  the  laws  of  nature.  For  the  cooperation  to  be 
complete,  they  must  work  according  to  his  spiritual  laws.  They 
must  deal  with  men  according  to  his  will.  With  Jesus  Father- 
hood involved  Brotherhood.  Must  not  those  who  desire  his 
relationship  with  God  find  his  relationship  with  men? 

Study  for  the  Week 

I 
Every  industrial  community  is  troubled  with  recurrent  dis- 
putes and  conflicts.  It  is  a  reflection  of  the  universal  indus- 
trial unrest,  which  is  felt  not  only  in  the  factory  but  even  in 
the  kitchen,  and  reaches  out  to  remote  agricultural  areas. 
Some  people  have  a  patent  remedy  for  this.  They  would  put 
the  labor  agitators  in  jail.     But  industrial  unrest  would  still 

97 


[VII-s]    CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

persist.  It  has  deeper  roots.  Some  more  intelligent  people 
have  another  remedy.  They  would  improve  conditions  for 
the  worker.  Like  kings  of  old,  they  have  a  vision  of  contented 
workers  plodding  on  to  their  daily  task  like  well-fed  oxen. 
Some  labor  leaders  apparently  share  the  same  point  of  view. 
They  look  first  for*  the  loaves  and  fishes. 

But  industrial  unrest  is  something  more  than  the  rumbling 
of  empty  stomachs.  It  is  the  stirring  of  the  souls  of  men. 
There  is  something  in  the  labor  movement  that  men  are 
willing  to  starve  for.  Better  material  conditions  alone  will 
not  satisfy  its  basic  demand.  If  well-fed  Christians  are  in- 
clined to  rest  content  with  them,  important  as  they  are,  the 
workers  will  not  let  them.  "Welfare  Work  Won't  Do.  We 
Want  Industrial  Democracy,"  read  a  sign  recently  carried  by 
Chicago  working  girls. 

What  the  worker  wants  is  to  count  as  a  man  and  not  as  a 
tool.  He  is  no  longer  content  to  take  what  is  given  him.  He 
will  know  whether  or  not  his  present  lot  represents  justice  in 
the  distribution  of  the  product  of  industry  and  in  industrial 
control.     It  is  a  change  of  relationship  that  is  required. 

II 

This  country  has  seen  some  labor  conflicts  which  may  prove 
to  be  as  significant  in  the  development  of  democracy  as  was 
the  French  Revolution  in  its  day.  The  Federal  Commission 
appointed  to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  these  conflicts  puts 
first  emphasis  on  the  demand  for  industrial  democracy.  The 
cctmmunity  usually  cries  out  first  for  peace.  But  peace  in 
industry  as  in  government  comes  only  by  a  long  pathway  of 
struggle.  Orderly  government  came  after  many  tyrants  and 
maraudings,  after  despots  and  mobs.  It  delayed  until  justice 
was  established.  It  will  so  wait  in  the  industrial  world. 
Some  day  the  majority  of  the  people  will  together  give  con- 
sent to  conditions  and  relationships  in  industry.  This  is  the 
court  of  last  resort.  People  make  laws  and  change  them ; 
accept  constitutions  and  revise  them.  By  the  same  token  indus- 
trial control  will  not  be  left  in  the  hands  of  the  few.    Indus- 

98 


INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY  [VII-s] 

try  will  some  day  be  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people. 

The  development  of  democracy  has  proceeded  with  Chris- 
tianity. It  is  not  found  apart  from  it.  The  Day  of  Pentecost 
made  men  brothers  in  the  community  life  at  Jerusalem,  No 
other  relationship  will  satisfy  the  demands  of  Christianity. 
The  question  is  not  whether  our  immigrant  workers  are  better 
off  than  they  were  in  other  lands  or  whether  the  workers  of 
today  are  better  off  than  the  workers  of  yesterday;  the  ques- 
tion is  whether  they  are  treated  as  brothers  by  those  who  call 
themselves  Christians.  Christianity  will  not  rest  satisfied 
with  benevolent  despotism  in  modern  industry,  any  more  than 
it  was  satisfied  with  well  cared-for  slaves.  Slowly  but  inevit- 
ably it  dissolves  such  a  relationship.  The  Gospel  that  preaches 
"The  first  shall  be  last  and  the  last  first"  is  a  trouble-maker. 
When  it  finds  a  world  in  which  power  is  in  the  hands  of  a 
few,  it  makes  uneasy  nights  for  those  few.  Inevitably  it 
destroys  concentration  of  industrial  power.  Modern  industry 
is  at  present  a  struggle  for  power  and  advantage  between  two 
groups  with  antagonistic  purpose.  This  struggle  is  not  essen- 
tially new.  It  is  the  age-long  contest  for  the  control  of  the 
■economic  basis  of  subsistence.  It  appears  again  in  the  revolt 
of  the  peons  in  Mexico  and  in  the  attempt  in  India  to  break 
the  caste  system  which  settles  by  birth  the  form  of  labor  for 
nine-tenths  of  the  population.  Its  latest  appearance  is  in  the 
growing  discontent  of  tenant  farmers  in  some  sections  of  the 
United  States  with  the  limitations  that  absentee  land  ownership 
is  placing  upon  their  lives. 

In  this  struggle  the  spiritual  bonds  of  the  community  are 
rent  asunder,  "He  called  us  'brother'  in  the  church,"  said  the 
strikers,  "but  when  his  foreman  was  robbing  us  he  refused 
to  talk  to  us  in  the  factory."  Men  who  are  antagonistic  in  the 
industrial  world  cannot  easily  be  brothers  in  the  church.  It  is 
equally  difficult  for  employers  and  employes  to  live  on  both  the 
competitive  and  the  Christian  basis  of  life.  Can  the  two  be 
harmonized? 

The  ultimate  expression  of  democracy  and  of  Christianity 

99 


[VII-s]    CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

in  the  working  world  is  in  relationships  of  cooperation  rather 
than  competition.  Then  the  economic  world  becomes  spiritual- 
ized. When  men  work  together  instead  of  working  against 
each  other,  when  they  work  for  the  common  good  instead  of 
for  their  own  advantage,  God  stands  again  in  the  workshop 
of  the  world.  His  righteousness  is  manifest  in  human  justice 
and  his  love  in  human  brotherhood. 

Ill 

Under  the  influence  of  Christianity  industrial  democracy  has 
been  working  out,  just  as  pohtical  democracy  has  developed. 
It  has  come  up  from  the  bottom  of  society,  where  Christianity 
began.  Its  primary  principle,  the  partnership  of  labor  with 
capital,  is  the  central  idea  in  the  trade  union.  As  long  as  the 
worker  must  sell  his  labor  in  the  market,  the  unions  demand 
that  he  shall  sell  on  terms  of  equality.  This  is  the  principle  of 
collective  bargaining  which  is  now  widespread.  In  Europe, 
in  New  Zealand,  in  Australia,  the  sanction  and  support  of  the 
state  is  behind  it. 

In  this  country  collective  bargaining  has  established  itself 
in  the  face  of  intense  opposition,  but  it  is  steadily  converting 
employers  to  its  value  as  an  ally  in  shop  management.  In  some" 
industries,  notably  garment  making  and  coal  mining,  it  has 
replaced  industrial  anarchy  with  orderly  procedure.  "You 
cannot  work  out  a  democratic  procedure  for  the  minute  dis- 
putes and  the  various  nationalities  of  the  garment  trades,"  said 
the  employers.  But  now  they  say :  "We  would  not  go  back 
to  the  old  way  for  anything." 

Those  who  desire  to  establish  the  democracy  of  Jesus, 
however,  will  not  assess  the  worth  of  the  trade  union  merely 
by  what  it  has  done  to  help  the  employer  or  to  secure  better 
conditions  for  the  worker.  They  must  ask :  "Is  it  a  defense 
against  the  assaults  of  the  conscienceless  exploiter  of  labor 
upon  the  life  of  the  worker,  the  conscience  of  the  Christian 
employer,  and  the  welfare  of  the  community?  Does  it  make 
men  free  and  equal?  Does  it  develop  self-respect  and 
respect   for  others?     Does   it  make   for  brotherhood  in  the 

100 


INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY  [VII-s] 

workshop  and  between  the  workshop  and  the  office?"  It  may 
include  in  its  ranks  many  whose  sole  interest  is  selfish,  but  if 
it  does  these  things  to  any  appreciable  degree,  then  it  makes 
for  the  Commonwealth  of  God,  and  those  employers  who 
seek  to  break  it  down  are  obligated  to  substitute  something 
which  will  do  these  things  in  greater  degree.  Those  labor 
leaders  likewise  who  discredit  the  trade  union  by  making  it  the 
instrument  of  tyranny  and  injustice,  are  both  betraying  their 
fellows  and  committing  high  treason  against  the  community. 

Employers  who  are  willing  to  give  good  conditions  to  their 
own  workers,  but  not  to  deal  with  the  union,  are  bound  to 
consider  the  effect  of  their  attitude  upon  the  struggle  of  the 
workers  throughout  the  trade  as  a  whole.  The  acting  principle 
of  some  great  corporations  is,  "Millions  for  welfare  work, 
but  not  a  cent  for  industrial  democracy."  How  does  this 
work  out  socially  ?  Such  a  policy  seems  a  subtle  bribe  to  make 
the  workers  selfish  and  narrow,  to  keep  them  subordinate  and 
inferior,  in  order  that  the  employing  group  may  perpetuate  its 
control.     Will  it  satisfy  the  Christian  conscience? 

The  struggle  for  liberty  has  never  been  free  from  the  abuse 
of  freedom.  It  has  often  meant  nothing  but  the  transfer  of 
power  from  one  set  of  hands  to  another.  Oligarchies  have 
replaced  the  tyrant.  The  bosses  have  enslaved  the  free  citizens 
of  a  democracy.  The  sins  of  labor  unions  are  on  record. 
They  make  a  tragic  story,  comparable  to  the  disasters  attend- 
ing the  search  for  political  democracy.  It  is  largely  a  story 
of  false  leaders  and  evil  counselors.  A  great  challenge  comes 
out  of  it  to  those  who  have  caught  a  vision  of  service,  to  make 
alliance  with  the  leaders  who  are  holding  the  labor  movement 
true  to  the  principle  of  democracy.  After  a  Christian  labor 
leader  had  literally  risked  his  life  to  compel  the  keeping  of  a 
trade  agreement,  a  Christian  employer  took  advantage  of  the 
weakened  condition  of  the  union  to  compel  the  acceptance  of 
a  new  contract  for  longer  hours  and  smaller  wages.  It  is 
easier  to  give  the  workers  what  one  thinks  they  ought  to  have, 
than  to  work  out  with  them  what  is  mutually  just.  Yet  the 
slower  and  more  difficult  thing  must  be  done,  as  it  had  to  be 

lOI 


[VII-s]    CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

done  in  the  world  of  political  relations.  Those  who  help  to 
do  it  are  leading  industrial  life  toward  the  day  when  it  shall 
be  a  competition  in  service  instead  of  a  struggle  for  power. 
Who  can  estimate  the  value  of  those  trained  men  and  women 
who  will  patiently  and  humbly  set  themselves  to  this  task  and 
give  their  lives  to  constructive  leadership? 

IV 

The  joint  trade  agreement  is  not  the  final  expression  of 
Christian  democracy,  but  when  the  labor  conditions  of  a  great 
industry  are  settled  by  groups  of  men  representing  both  sides, 
it  is  a  great  gain  over  the  days  of  anarchistic  industrial  war- 
fare. In  the  Joint  Trade  Boards  which  havfe  been  settling  dis- 
putes in  the  garment  trade,  the  chairman  is  neutral.  He  is 
really  the  umpire  of  the  game,  to  see  that  neither  side  cheats. 
This  fact  reveals  a  situation  of  conflict.  Collective  bargaining 
is  still  a  struggle.  It  is  subject  to  the  law  of  trade,  "Let  the 
buyer  beware!"  Each  side  is  playing  for  advantage;  seeking 
to  get  the  better  of  the  other.  The  most  brutal  features  of 
industrial  strife  are  removed,  but  it  is  still  a  struggle  with  other 
weapons  than  those  of  physical  force.  What  principle  of 
Jesus  does  this  embody?  What  does  it  leave  unapplied? 
Unless  the  roots  of  industry  are  transplanted  from  the  field 
of  competition  to  the  field  of  cooperation,  will  not  the  funda- 
mental evils  of  industrial  conflict  still  manifest  themselves? 

The  principle  of  Christian  democracy  must  be  carried  to  its 
final  expression  in  the  industrial  world.  It  must  be  applied 
to  ownership  as  well  as  to  management.  The  modern  cor- 
poration represents  the  distribution  of  ownership  to  a  number 
of  small  capitalists.  Must  this  distribution  not  be  carried  still 
further  until  it  fully  represents  cooperation?  A  far-seeing 
statistician  who  furnishes  reports  to  financiers  recently  in- 
formed them  that  the  only  settlement  of  the  industrial  conflict 
was  to  make  the  workers  themselves  the  owners  of  industry. 
This  principle  has  already  been  recognized  in  profit-sharing, 
which  is  being  continually  extended.     It  makes  the  worker  a 

102 


.      INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY  [VII-s] 

partner  in  the  product.  It  says,  "We  jointly  made  it — we  will 
endeavor  justly  to  share  it."  When  this  movement  represents 
merely  a  bonus  to  reward  extra  work,  or  when  it  is  simply 
an  attempt  to  buy  the  loyalty  of  the  workers,  it  is  foredoomed 
to  failure.  If,  however,  it  is  a  genuine  attempt  to  "do  justly," 
if  it  really  recognizes  the  partnership  of  the  worker  in  the 
business,  it  is  a  step  toward  complete  industrial  democracy. 

As  the  principle  of  partnership  in  the  control  of  industry  is 
increasingly  recognized,  the  further  vision  of  common  owner- 
ship of  the  resources  and  equipment  of  industry  becomes  more 
clear.  How  far  are  the  tools  of  industry  now  possessed  by  all 
whose  labor  created  them?  Would  such  common  ownership 
not  lead  us  on  toward  the  Christian  commonwealth? 

A  great  Christian  body  has  declared  that  the  principle  of 
Christian  democracy  leads  to  "the  fullest  possible  ownership 
and  control,  both  of  industry  and  of  the  resources  upon  which 
industry  depends."  This  principle  is  being  worked  out  in 
practice.  In  Europe  the  cooperative  movement  in  retail  and 
wholesale  merchandising,  and  also  in  production — both  agri- 
cultural and  manufacturing — has  brought  together  great  groups 
of  workers  who  both  own  and  manage  their  own  business. 
This  is  industry  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people.  It  eliminates  the  parasites,  the  absentee  owners  who 
toil  not  and  do  not  spin,  and  yet  draw  incomes  from  the  indus- 
trial process.  It  does  away  with  the  exploiters — those  who 
contribute  something  to  industrial  management,  but  take  out 
far  more  than  the  fair  reward  of  their  labor.  The  story  of  the 
cooperative  movement  proves  that  the  teachings  of  Jesus  will 
work  in  economic  relations.  But  it  pays  its  largest  dividends 
in  the  coin  of  the  spirit.  It  has  united  the  workers  in  great 
bonds  of  service.  It  has  made  the  prophetic  missionaries  of  a 
new  order  of  life,  willing  to  forego  profit  and  income  for 
the  sake  of  spreading  the  gospel  of  cooperation.  Recently 
there  died  the  manager  of  a  great  cooperative  business  with  an 
annual  turn-over  of  millions.  He  left  less  than  $5,000  and  he 
had  never  drawn  more  than  $2,000  a  year.  Private,  profit- 
making  enterprises  had  in  vain  offered  him  many  times  this 

103 


[VII-s]    CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

salary.    Is  this  not  the  same  spirit  that  has  animated  Christian 
ministers,  doctors,  and  missionaries? 


The  widest  application  of  the  principle  of  industrial  coopera- 
tion takes  in  the  community.  It  leads  to  community  owner- 
ship. Joint  trade  agreements  may  become  a  mere  "plunder- 
bund"  to  levy  toll  on  the  consumer.  The  alliance  may  assume 
powers  which  belong  only  to  the  whole  community,  and  neu- 
trals may  have  no  rights  left.  In  the  recent  anthracite  labor 
controversy  nobody  sat  around  the  table  to  represent  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States.  The  dispute  was  settled  by 
representatives  of  the  owners  and  workers,  and  the  consumers 
paid  the  bills  without  having  any  voice  in  the  terms  of 
settlement.  When  a  city  owns  its  gas  works,  its  water  works, 
and  traction  system,  when  a  nation  owns  its  railroads,  it 
admits  every  citizen  into  ownership.  Such  industry  becomes 
then  a  partnership  of  all  the  people  to  serve  each  other.  It 
ties  the  people  together  with  the  bonds  of  common  property 
and  common  labor.  Just  as  a  family  is  drawn  together  around 
its  homestead,  so  the  community  is  drawn  together  around 
its  mutual  enterprises.  When  the  people  have  the  park  for 
their  playground,  a  civic  spirit  develops  which  is  absent  when 
to  get  a  glimpse  of  beauty  they  must  visit  the  private  grounds 
of  millionaires.  In  spite  of  the  terrific  opposition  against  it, 
collective  ownership  and  management  is  extending  throughout 
the  world. 

The  Christian  must  measure  all  practical  proposals  for 
collective  ownership  and  management  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  social  principles  of  Jesus.  Does  such  action  recognize  the 
rights  of  all  the  people?  Does  it  bind  the  people  together 
in  fraternal  living?  Does  it  throw  the  weight  of  economic 
pressure  on  the  side  of  moral  development,  rather  than  against 
it?  By  such  tests  must  the  citizen  of  tomorrow  decide  the 
business  of  the  nation.  It  may  be  that  the  Orient,  with  its 
long  development  of  communal  action,  will  help  the  world  to 
solve    this    common    problem.      The    principles    of    economic 

104 


INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY  [VII-s] 

cooperation  involved  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus  must  finally  be 
applied  to  the  relations  between  nations  and  races.  The 
dragon's  teeth  of  future  world  conflict  are  buried  in  the  soil 
of  economic  relations  between  the  white  and  yellow  races.  In 
South  Africa  a  cultured  people  holds  in  leash  a  primitive 
people  who  yearn  for  a  larger  life.  Economic  cooperation, 
anything  approaching  industrial  democracy,  seems  impossible. 
Imagine  for  a  moment  the  blacks  of  the  diamond  mines  in 
Kimberley,  or  in  the  gold  mines  on  the  Rand,  sharing  the 
administration  of  these  vast  wealth-producing  enterprises ! 
The  task  of  satisfying  the  demands  of  Christianity  will  be  long 
and  difficult,  but  if  the  white  race  is  to  follow  Jesus  to  the 
end  of  the  road,  it  cannot  hold  other  races  in  economic. sub- 
jection. 

The  whole  story  of  social  evolution  is  a  record  of  the 
increase  of  cooperative  capacity.  Today  mankind  has  power  to 
organize  life  on  a  cooperative  basis  as  never  before.  The 
Christian  whose  faith  hesitates  before  Jesus'  teaching  concern- 
ing democracy  has  turned  his  back  upon  the  facts  of  history 
and  life. 

The  motive  of  life  has  to  be  changed  for  many  people. 
The  world  has  taught  that  the  strong  have  a  right  to  the 
rewards  of  their  strength;  it  has  sneered  at  the  call  to  cooper- 
ative service  as  the  gospel  of  inefficiency  and  failure.  The 
question  is  now,  what  will  the  strong  do?  Will  Jesus'  fol- 
lowers take  the  same  attitude  in  industry  that  they  take  when 
they  go  into  settlements  and  foreign  missions,  into  medicine 
and  the  ministry?  Will  they  enter  the  world  of  money- 
making,  not  for  themselves  or  their  families,  but  to  help  all  the 
people  to  transfer  industry  from  the  basis  of  struggle  to  the 
basis  of  brotherhood? 


Suggestions  for  Discussion  and  Action 

I.    Industrial  Unrest 

I.     Is  there  industrial  unrest  in  our  community?     If  not, 
105 


[VII-s]   CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

what   has   prevented    it?     If   present,    what   are   the   main 
causes? 

2.  What  is  labor  really  striving  to  secure?  What  are  the 
objects  of  the  local  labor  and  radical  groups? 

II.  Industrial  Relationship 

1.  To  what  extent  is  industrial  unrest  justified  in  pur 
community? 

2.  In  our  own  community,  or  in  an  industrial  community 
which  we  know,  what  is  the  attitude  of  the  employer  toward 
the  industrial  worker? 

3.  Where  is  the  relationship  between  employer  and 
employe  thoroughly  commercialized?  If  so,  how  does  it 
differ  from  the  relations  between  master  and  slave? 

4.  How  do  industrial  relations  differ  from  ordinary 
human  relations?  Have  any  employers  in  our  community 
subordinated  profit  to  human  values?  What  is  the  secret  of 
their  attitude  ?  What  human  values  should  employers  recog- 
nize? 

5.  How  does  the  relationship  between  the  farmer  and  his 
hired  hand  differ  from  the  relations  between  the  industrial 
employer  and  his  machine  operator? 

6.  Study  the  situation  in  a  Japanese  or  South  American 
community,  where  modern  industry  has  recently  developed. 
How  does  the  situation  differ  from  previous  industrial  con- 
ditions? From  the  problem  of  industrial  relations  in  this 
country  ? 

7.  How  tense  is  the  relationship  between  employer  and 
employe?     How  great  a  national  problem  is  this? 

III.  Possible  Solutions. 

1.  What  is  meant  by  industrial  democracy?  To  what 
extent  do  you  believe  that  industrial  democracy  is  really  the 
goal  of  the  labor  movement?  How  does  this  differ  from  the 
ordinary  idea  of  its  purpose? 

2.  What  are  the  values  and  the  limitations  of  welfare 

106 


INDUSTRIAL  DEMOCRACY  [VII-s] 

work?     Is  it  a  step  towards,  or  a  hindrance  to  industrial 
democracy  ? 

3.  In  what  ways  does  unionism  benefit  the  workers? 

4.  Does  collective  bargaining  tend  to  increase  or  decrease 
the  tension  of  relationship  between  employer  and  employe? 
To  what  extent  does  it  lead  the  way  to  full  industrial 
democracy  ? 

5.  To  what  extent  does  profit-sharing  identify  the  in- 
terest of  employer  and  employe?  When  does  it  tend  toward 
industrial  democracy?    When  does  it  lead  away  from  it? 

6.  What  is  cooperative  ownership  of  industry?  To  what 
extent  has  labor  a  right  to  share  in  the  ownership  and  con- 
trol of  the  equipment  and  resources  of  industry?  How 
far  does  community  ownership  of  public  utilities  demon- 
strate the  feasibility  of  industrial  democracy? 

IV.     Christianity  and  Industrial  Democracy 

I.  How  far  will  the  achievement  of  industrial  democracy 
lead  toward  the  Christian  commonwealth? 


107 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ESTABLISHING  EQUAL  JUSTICE 

The  movements  involved  in  Christianizing  community  life 
will  not  be  accomplished  by  mere  changes  in  its  organization. 
They  require  an  increase  in  its  spiritual  funds.  They  demand 
the  full  development  of  the  cooperative  spirit.  The  beginning 
of  this  development  in  community  life  is  the  effort  to  establish 
equal  justice.  This  is  a  task  to  v^hich  Christianity  long  ago 
addressed  itself. 

Daily  Meditations 
First  Day  :  Justice  Has  a  Long  Record 

Ye  shall  appoint  you  cities  to  be  cities  of  refuge  for 
you,  that  the  manslayer  that  killeth  any  person  unwit- 
tingly may  flee  thither  ,  .  .  that  the  manslayer  die 
not,  until  he  stand  before  the  congregation  for  judg- 
ment.— Numbers  35:  11,  12, 

These  cities  were  duly  established  as  Moses  com- 
manded.— Cf.  Josh.  20:  1-9. 

Here  are  the  beginnings  of  community  procedure, to  limit 
the  right  of  the  individual  to  take  blood  revenge.  Here  is 
evidence  of  the  fact  that  when  men  begin  to  live  together  in 
communities,  the  right  and  power  of  individuals  must  be 
restrained,  there  must  be  adjustment  between  the  clash  of 
rights.  So  there  developed  judges,  courts,  and  laws.  The 
whole  process  can  be  traced  in  the  Old  Testament — the  elders 
sitting  at  the  gate,  judgment  passing  to  the  hands  of  the  king, 
and  then  into  an  assembly.  So  in  Europe  feudal  justice,  the 
high,  the  middle,  and  the  low,  all  for  different  classes,  gave 
way  to  trial  by  jury  and  all  the  processes  of  modern  demo- 
cratic justice.  Our  own  development  in  the  Western  states 
went  through  similar  stages:  first  there  was  the. unrestrained 

108 


ESTABLISHING  EQUAL  lUSTICE      [VIII-2] 

right  of  the  individual;   then  the  Vigilance  Committee;   and 
these  in  turn  were  restrained  by  the  advent  of  the  law. 

The  difference  between  this  development  and  that  recorded 
in  the  Old  Testament  is  that  in  Hebrew  life  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  was  intimately  connected  with  religious  think- 
ing and  feeling.  Do  men  now  feel  that  justice  must  be  held 
sacred  ?  How  can  our  own  courts  be  made  worthy  of  religious 
respect  from  the  people? 

Second  Day  :  The  God  of  Justice 

The  Rock,  his  work  is  perfect; 
For  all  his  ways  are  justice: 
A  God  of  faithfulness  and  without  iniquity, 
Just  and  right  is  he. — Deut.  32 :  4. 
Read  Isa.  45 :  21. 

Why  is  it  that  the  Scriptures  continually  refer  to  God  as 
just?  Is  it  because  this  is  the  quality  that  men  desire?  The 
prophets  continually  talk  of  a  God  of  justice.  He  requires 
of  men  that  they  shall  be  just.  If  religion  is  to  be  a  com- 
munity affair  and  not  simply  a  matter  between  the  individual 
and  God,  those  who  are  equal  before  God  also  come  to 
equality  with  one  another.  This  equality  is  first  established 
under  the  law.  This  has  been  one  of  the  greatest  contribu- 
tions of  our  Western  civilization  to  human  development.  It 
took  the  foundation  of  Roman  law  and  extended  it  to  all 
people  in  the  community.  Look  over  your  own  community — 
do  the  relations  between  the  groups  of  people  who  live  in  it 
satisfy  the  ideals  of  justice  in  the  Old  Testament?  Would 
they  satisfy  Jesus'  teaching  concerning  neighbor  love? 

Third  Day:  The  Unjust  Have  to  be  Spotted 

And  Nathan  said  to  David,  Thou  art  the  man. — II 
Sam.  12:  7. 
Read  context  II   Sam.   11:  2-12:   15. 

It  was  no  pleasant  thing  for  the  prophet  to  risk  his  life 
by  facing  the  unjust  king.    Nathan  had  no  easy  time  standing 

109 


[VIII-4]  CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

before  David  and  saying  "Thou  art  the  man."  Yet  God's 
men  can  never  be  silent  when  injustice  is  done.  They  cannot 
abide  one  law  for  the  rich  and  another  for  the  poor.  They 
must  interfere  at  any  cost.  It  was  said  of  Knox,  "Here  lies 
one  who  never  feared  the  face  of  man,"  because  he  was  never 
afraid  to  rebuke  injustice  in  high  places.  Luther  could  "do  no 
other,"  God  helping  him.  He  must  stand  and  speak  out  against 
the  injustice  of  the  Church.  So  Jesus  could  not  witness 
extortion  as  he  passed  through  the  temple  and  remain  passive. 
God's  followers  must  ever  lift  the  voice  and  raise  the  hand 
against  injustice. 

A  young  man  walking  upon  the  streets  at  night  saw  a  police- 
man take  a  drunken  man  to  an  alley  and  club  him  viciously. 
Should  he  have  taken  any  action?  Is  self-interest  or  other- 
interest  the  law  of  progress?  The  philosophers  of  self-inter- 
est tell  us  that  no  group  has  ever  fought  except  for  themselves. 
Yet  in  the  labor  movement,  the  union  time  and  again  will 
fight  for  the  cause  of  the  unorganized  worker.  The  chivalry 
of  tomorrow  is  that  of  one  group  fighting  for  others.  Which 
takes  more  courage — to  stand  for  the  rights  of  others  or 
to  stand  for  one's  own  rights? 

Fourth  Day:  The  Righteous  Have  No  Corner  on  Justice 

I  hate,  I  despise  your  feasts,  and  I  will  take  no 
delight  in  your  solemn  assemblies.  Yea,  though  ye 
offer  me  your  burnt-offerings  and  meal-ofiferings,  I 
will  not  accept  them ;  neither  will  I  regard  the  peace- 
offerings  of  your  fat  beasts.  Take  thou  away  from 
me  the  noise  of  thy  songs ;  for  I  will  not  hear  the 
melody  of  thy  viols.  But  let  justice  roll  down  as 
waters,  and  righteousness  as  a  mighty  stream. — 
Amos  5:  21-24. 

Read  also  Amos  8:4-7;  Isa.  i :  12-17. 

The  prophet  always  rudely  insists  on  pushing  religion  out 
from  temple  walls  to  the  market-place  and  field.  He  declares 
that  God  prefers  brotherhood  to  ritual;  that  he  wants  justice 
before   ceremony.     Jesus   put   the    same   teaching   in   another 

no 


ESTABLISHING  EQUAL  JUSTICE      [VIII-5] 

form  when  he  told  the  temple  worshippers  to  inquire  whether 
their  brother  had  anything  against  them.  If  so,  they  must 
leave  their  gift  at  the  altar  and  go  to  establish  brotherhood. 
What  would  that  test  do  today  to  our  church-going,  our 
revivals,  our  conventions  and  religious  assemblies?  If  there 
be  in  the  land  any  people  who  do  not  share  life  on  terms  as 
favorable  as  those  enjoyed  by  the  majority  of  folks  within 
the  churches,  God  wants  something  more  than  church  wor- 
ship. He  desires  his  justice  to  be  established  in  all  the  rela- 
tions of  the  community  life. 

Fifth  Day:  Honor  to  Whom  Honor  Is  Due 

And  Paul,  looking  stedfastly  on  the  council,  said, 
Brethren,  I  have  lived  before  God  in  all  good  con- 
science until  this  day.  And  the  high  priest  Ananias 
commanded  them  that  stood  by  him  to  smite  him  on 
the  mouth.  Then  said  Paul  unto  him,  God  shall  smite 
thee,  thou  whited  wall:  and  sittest  thou  to  judge  me 
according  to  the  law,  and  commandest  me  to  be 
smitten  contrary  to  the  law? — Acts  22,:  1-3. 

Such  language  as  this  coming  from  Paul,  who  was  some- 
what of  a  stickler  for  respect  for  authority,  is  rather  startling. 
It  is  true  he  takes  it  back  partially  when  he  discovers  to  whom 
he  is  speaking,  but  he  has  good  cause  for  his  outburst  and 
there  was  authoritative  precedent  for  him.  The  language 
that  Jesus  used  to  the  authorities  who  sat  in  judgment  over 
the  people  was  not  exactly  polite  or  reverent.  The  Scripture 
gives  no  warrant  for  respect  for  unjust  authority.  There  can 
be  no  sanctity  around  men  merely  because  they  hold  office. 
The  official  must  gain  the  reverence  of  the  people  by  his  acts 
and  attitudes,  not  by  his  office.  The  day  has  gone  by  when 
either  priest  or  judge  could  claim  to  be  sacrosanct.  When  a 
noted  denominational  leader  paid  a  fine  of  twenty-five  dollars 
for  expressing  his  opinion  in  public  concerning  a  judge  who 
had  made  a  notorious  decision  in  a  liquor  case,  he  declared 
it  was  worth  twenty-five  dollars  to  express  his  opinion  of 
such  a  court. 

Ill 


[VIII-6]  CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

If  judges  will  represent  all  the  people,  if  they  will  hold  up 
ideals  of  impartial  justice,  the  people  will  respond.  At  a 
meeting  in  her  early  days  at  Hull  House,  Miss  Addams  was 
challenged  by  a  labor  leader,  saying  that  she  was  under 
the  influence  of  the  capitalists.  She  replied  that  she  was  not 
controlled  by  capitalists,  nor  did  she  propose  to  be  bullied  by 
labor.  The  instant  applause  of  the  gathering  showed  its 
appreciation  of  independence  and  fairness. 

Sixth  Day  :  Playing  Tricks  on  Justice 

So  when  Pilate  saw  that  he  prevailed  nothing,  but 
rather  that  a  tumult  was  arising,  he  took  water,  and 
washed  his  hands  before  the  multitude,  saying,  I  am 
innocent  of  the  blood  of  this  righteous  man ;  see  ye  to 
it. — Matt.  27:  24. 

Here  is  the  typical  politician.  He  does  injustice  not  will- 
ingly, but  indirectly  and  by  evasion.  He  has  a  just  law  to 
administer,  but  his  future  is  at  stake.  What  is  one  Jewish  life 
against  that?  So  he  hides  behind  the  responsibility  of  the 
Jewish  leaders.  The  trick  is  as  old  as  Babylon  and  as  new  as 
Chicago.  We  have  made  progress  from  the  bribery  of  the 
ancient  East,  but  is  the  spirit  of  Christianity  expressed  in 
all  fullness  in  our  local  administration  of  government? 

Politicians  who  use  office  for  their  own  profit  or  political 
future  continually  gamble  with  human  rights,  even  as  Pilate 
did.  In  order  that  their  business  friends  may  make  profit 
out  of  the  board  of  education,  they  condemn  the  children  to 
inefficiency.  In  the  sacred  name  of  loyalty  they  let  the  gang 
plunder  the  institutions  for  the  care  of  the  sick  and  the 
aged,  with  never  a  thought  of  their  treachery  to  the  helpless. 
For  the  sake  of  the  machine,  they  cripple  the  health  department 
and  leave  the  people  to  die.    Who  is  responsible  for  this? 

Seventh  Day  :  Neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  Barbarian,  Scythian, 
Bond  or  Free 

Judge  not,  that  ye  be  not  judged.     For  with  what 
judgment  ye  judge,  ye  shall  be  judged:  and  with  what 
112 


ESTABLISHING  EQUAL  JUSTICE      [Wills] 

measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be  measured  unto  you.  And 
why  beholdest  thou  the  mote  that  is  in  thy  brother's 
eye,  but  considerest  not  the  beam  that  is  in  thine  own 
eye?  Or  how  wilt  thou  say  to  thy  brother,  Let  me 
cast  out  the  mote  out  of  thine  eye;  and  lo,  the  beam 
is  in  thine  own  eye?  Thou  hypocrite,  cast  out  first 
the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye;  and  then  shalt  thou  see 
clearly  to  cast  out  the  mote  out  of  thy  brother's  eye. 
—Matt.  7 :  i-S- 

Jesus  continually  pushes  moral  questions  back  from  the  deed 
to  the  motive.  Murder  and  adultery  he  makes  matters  of 
desire  and  attitude  of  mind.  So  is  it  here  with  this  issue  of 
the  administration  of  justice  in  the  community.  If  people 
regard  other  races,  nations,  or  classes  as  inferior  and  sub- 
ordinate to  themselves,  there  can  be  no  working  out  of 
measures  of  justice.  Does  the  Californian  look  on  the  Jap- 
anese as  a  brother?  Does  the  Texan  regard  the  Mexican 
as  a  neighbor,  to  be  loved  and  helped?  With  this  attitude  of 
mind  there  will  be  justice;  without  it  there  cannot  be.  A 
mining  engineer  in  South  Africa  objected  to  the  missionaries' 
elevating  the  natives.  "They  will  be  asking  for  their  rights; 
it  will  be  more  difficult  to  work  them,"  he  said. 

The  world's  friction-point  of  the  future  is  on  this  question 
of  the  regard  of  one  race  for  another.  National  and  inter- 
national policies  will  reflect  individual  attitudes.  The  mis- 
sionary is  a  pioneer  in  establishing  right  racial  relationships. 
But  does  not  an  equal  responsbility  rest  upon  the  Christian 
at  home? 

Study  for  the  Week 

I 

The  cement  of  community  life  is  the  assurance  of  equal 
justice — the  confidence  that  all  men  will  get  their  rights.  When 
this  is  gone,  the  community  breaks  up.  The  sense  of  injustice 
is  the  yeast  of  revolution. 

In  the  Western  world  our  criminal  laws  break  down  at  times 
and  innocent  men  suffer  punishment,  but  we  have  established 

113 


[VIII-s]  CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

the  machinery  of  justice.  The  task  now  before  us  is  to  pre- 
vent the  law's  delays,  to  overcome  technicalities,  to  abolish 
special  privilege  and  secure  equal  justice  for  poor  and  rich, 
white  and  black,  Jew  and  Gentile,  American  and  immigrant, 
capitalist  and  laborer. 

In  many  other  lands  there  is  a  more  difficult  problem.  Be- 
yond the  influence  of  Christianity,  crime,  oppression,  and  in- 
justice are  well  nigh  universal.  The  oppressed  and  the  inno- 
cent have  little  hope  for  redress.  Justice  is  arbitrary.  Single 
officials  have  the  disposal  of  property  rights  and  the  power 
over  life  and  death.  Bribery  and  torture  are  accepted  as 
inevitable.  In  areas  containing  one-third  of  the  population 
of  the  world,  the  very  machinery  of  effective  justice  is  yet  to 
be  created. 

II 

Theoretically,  all  groups  stand  equal  before  the  law  in 
America,  but  occasionally  there  are  those  who  are  able  to  shape 
law-making  to  their  own  ends. 

The  history  of  legislation  shows  continuously  the  influ- 
ence of  special  groups.  In  the  early  days  of  railroad  develop- 
ment the  railroads  practically  owned  some  of  our  states.  In 
certain  states,  to  understand  the  political  situation  one  must 
find  out  what  group  of  financial  interests  is  in  control.  In  one 
state  it  may  be  the  brewers ;  in  another  the  public  utilities. 
Even  when  the  people  assert  themselves  and  really  make  their 
own  legislation,  there  is  still  the  little  joker  slipped  in  to 
defeat  it.  The  same  thing  occurs  in  municipal  affairs.  The 
story  of  street-car,  water,  and  gas  franchises  shows  this  influ- 
ence of  privileged  groups.  Eternal  vigilance  alone  can  keep 
the  municipal  council  free  from  the  influence  of  special  inter- 
ests and  ready  to  give  justice  to  all  the  people. 

The  remedies  are  being  applied.  Legislative  reference 
bureaus  are  drafting  legislation  effectively.  Legislative  and 
municipal  voters'  leagues  help  to  defeat  the  enemies  of  the 
common  life  by  making  public  the  record  of  legislators.  There 
is  an  increasing  people's  lobby — a  great  third  house,  watching 
and  influencing  legislation.     The  principle  of  petition,  which 

114 


.ESTABLISHING  EQUAL  JUSTICE      [VIII-s] 

has  so  often  been  used  effectively  in  the  struggle  for  human 
rights,  is  getting  a  new  force  and  meaning  in  democracy. 
Through  letters  and  telegrams  and  personal  interviews  legis- 
lators and  aldermen  are  kept  in  touch  with  public  desires  and 
wishes.  Certain  organized  groups  in  the  community — 
churches,  clubs,  Christian  Associations — can  make  their  influ- 
ence felt.  No  Council  will  sell  out  the  people's  rights,  if 
it  hears  the  people's  voice  of  protest  in  unmistakable  tones. 

Ill 

The  American  people  put  blind  trust  in  law-making.  They 
seem  to  think  that  law  will  automatically  result  in  justice. 
But  when  the  forces  of  evil  are  defeated  in  the  making  of  law 
they  next  attempt  to  influence  its  interpretation  and  adminis- 
tration. 

Is  the  law  administered  with  equal  justice  in  our  community? 
Has  the  policeman  taken  a  drink  from  the  saloon-keeper  and 
let  him  keep  open  after  hours?  Is  he  ordered  by  some  one 
"higher  up"  to  be  blind  to  gambling  and  prostitution?  Does 
the  magistrate  listen  to  the  case  against  the  ward-heeler?  Is 
there  a  regular  price  for  exemption  from  obedience  to  the  law 
so  that  those  who  "come  across"  can  "do  business,"  while 
those  who  do  not  pay  tribute  are  so  harassed  they  cannot  live? 
Is  there  blackmailing  of  corporations  in  the  shape  of  subscrip- 
tions to  campaign  funds,  for  which  return  is  to  be  given  in 
the  conduct  of  the  city's  business?  Have  the  prosecuting 
officials  no  fear  or  favor  for  any  individual  or  any  group  ?  In 
a  Middle  Western  town  a  group  of  young  fellows  were  arrested 
for  a  drunken  spree  which  involved  the  failure  to  return  some 
guns  which  they  had  hired  for  a  day's  fun.  One  man  was  a 
stranger  to  the  town.  He  received  the  full  penalty  of  the  law 
— fifteen  months  in  prison.  The  others  went  free.  They  had 
political  influence.  The  prosecuting  attorney  established  his 
reputation  upon  the  conviction  of  the  helpless  stranger.  Is 
any  group  exempt  from  the  full  payment  of  taxes  in  the  com- 
munity? A  Christian  manufacturer  in  the  West  put  in  an  addi- 
tion to  his  plant.     A  political  friend  came  to  see  him  about 

115 


[VIII-s]  CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

returning  his  assessment  schedule.  "You  don't  need  to  put  that 
in,"  'he  said.  "I  can  get  it  fixed  for  you."  The  suggestion 
was  indignantly  rejected. 

The  machinery  of  the  courts  often  breaks  down  of  its  own 
weight,  without  any  conscious  interference  with  it.  Rich  and 
poor  do  not  always  have  the  same  chance  before  justice,  be- 
cause of  the  expense  of  litigation.  In  one  industrial  case  in 
this  country  the  first  group  of  defendants  were  sentenced  to 
prison  for  a  term  of  years.  They  had  no  money  to  pay  a 
lawyer.  Sympathizers  in  other  parts  of  the  country  secured 
a  lawyer  before  the  next  group  were  tried,  with  the  result  that 
their  sentence  was  less  than  half  that  of  the  first  group. 

The  long  delay  in  securing  final  decisions  and  the  oppor- 
tunity for  numerous  appeals  frequently  defeat  justice.  In  the 
days  before  workmen's  compensation  laws,  a  continuous  cor- 
poration game  was  to  secure  delay  after  delay  until  the  poor 
prosecutor  was  worn  out  in  patience  and  in  pocket  book. 
This  situation  is  being  remedied  by  reforms  promoted  within 
the  legal  profession.  Our  new  municipal  courts,  our  juvenile 
courts,  and  courts  of  domestic  relations  all  make  it  easier  for 
the  common  people  to  get  justice. 

IV 

Securing  equal  justice  goes  beyond  technicalities  to  attitudes 
of  judges  and  lawyers.  Do  the  lawyers  pit  their  wits  against 
each  other  to  win  in  competition  rather  than  to  cooperate  in 
joint  search  for  justice?  Special  interests  and  racial  groups 
are  constantly  trying  to  secure  friendly  judges.  Why  are  so 
many  corporation  lawyers  upon  the  bench?  The  subtle  effect 
of  personal  association  and  social  influence  must  be  reckoned 
with.  If  the  judge  has  been  associating  all  his  life  with  men 
of  privilege  and  property,  if  they  are  the  people  whom  he 
meets  at  his  home  and  at  his  club,  he  will  naturally  reflect 
their  point  of  view. 

A  new  spirit  is  coming  into  the  courts  and  the  practice  of 
law.  The  courts  have  been  changing  their  views  in  recent 
years  because  judges  have  become  more  familiar  with  economic 

ii6 


.ESTABLISHING  EQUAL  JUSTICE      [VIII-s] 

facts  and  with  modern  social  forces.  This  gives  hope  of  the 
day  when  all  judges  shall  feel  it  their  high  duty  to  know  and 
represent  justice  for  all  the  people.  A  lawyer  no  longer 
remains  unquestioned  who  serves  his  client  against  the  public 
interest.  How  far  may  he  advise  business  men  to  keep  out- 
side the  penalties  of  law?  The  lawyer  has  a  duty  to  his  client, 
but  his  larger  duty  is  to  the  community. 


The  issue  of  equal  justice  goes  deep  down  into  the  soil  of 
current  opinion  and  prejudice.  In  certain  sections  it  is  impos- 
sible for  members  of  races  or  classes  regarded  as  inferior  to 
get  justice.  It  is  very  difficult  for  a  member  of  certain  rad- 
ical groups  to  receive  fair  treatment  from  the  police,  the  prose- 
cuting attorney,  the  judge,  or  the  jury,  because  of  the  popular 
prejudice  against  them.  Injunctions  have  been  used  much 
more  freely  in  behalf  of  capital  than  in  behalf  of  labor.  Labor 
leaders  have  been  arrested  for  kidnapping  other  labor  leaders 
and  taking  them  out  of  towns  or  states.  This  has  been  done 
several  times  by  capitalists,  but  no  man  has  ever  yet  been  tried 
for  it.  In  one  of  the  greatest  industrial  wars  of  this  country, 
the  leader  of  the  labor  forces  was  tried  for  murder,  but  no 
leader  of  the  forces  of  capital  was  ever  indicted.  In  a 
Western  state  a  group  of  labor  agitators  arrested  for  speak- 
ing on  the  streets  were  driven  out  of  the  community  by  men 
on  horseback  wielding  whips.  The  sheriff  boasted  of  the  pro- 
cedure and  the  prominent  citizens  at  the  chamber  of  commerce 
banquet  applauded.  But  a  federal  judge  told  them  the  day 
would  come  when  they  would  be  on  foot  and  labor  on  horse- 
back. "Then."  he  said,  "whose  back  will  be  scored,  when 
you  have  taught  labor  how  to  use  whips?" 

The  immigrant  does  not  have  the  same  opportunity  for 
justice  as  the  native  American.  He  is  frequently  not  under- 
stood in  the  courts.  He  does  not  understand  the  procedure  of 
the  law.  Does  the  Jew  stand  an  equal  chance  of  getting 
justice?  In  Chicago  a  young  Russian  Jew  was  accused  of 
attempting  to  kill  the  chief  of  police.    The  chief  of  police  shot 

117 


[VIII-s]  CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

him  without  witnesses.  The  whole  community  was  stirred 
with  instant  prejudice  against  the  Russian  Jews,  accusing  them 
of  anarchistic  plots.  Why  are  the  best  men  and  women  of  the 
South  demanding  that  the  negro  be  given  fair  trial  and  that 
lynching  cease? 

The  restriction  of  an  overpowering  atmosphere  of  prejudice 
is  fatal  to  the  administration  of  justice.  No  change  of  venue 
would  avail  here.  No  judge  or  jury  can  be  found  who  is  above 
it.  It  comes  back  to  the  individual  citizen.  It  is  a  question 
of  his  attitude,  of  whether  or  not  he  can  get  free  from  race 
or  class  prejudice. 

VI 

Many  of  our  current  issues  of  justice  are  community 
matters ;  they  involve  classes  and  races.  They  are  tried  in  the 
court  of  public  opinion.  In  the  last  analysis  it  is  a  question  of 
getting  the  case  fairly  before  this  court  of  last  resort.  How 
often  does  it  get  done?  Editorial  policies  of  newspapers  are 
largely  controlled  by  the  business  office.  Department  store 
accidents  are  kept  out  of  the  newspapers  because  of  the  adver- 
tising power  of  that  business.  A  Middle  Western  editor  says : 
"Of  course  our  newspapers  do  not  print  things  which  the 
liquor  interests  do  not  want  printed,  because  they  are  the 
dominant  group  in  this  city." 

News  is  frequently  distorted  and  suppressed  because  of  the 
poHtical  partisanship  and  economic  interests  of  the  owners 
of  the  paper.  It  is  impossible  to  get  the  truth  concerning  labor 
struggles  through  the  press.  On  one  side  is  the  deliberate  sup- 
pression and  on  the  other  the  unconscious  distortion  of  class 
bias.  It  leads  to  half-truth  on  the  one  side  and  to  exagger- 
ation on  the  other.  In  a  Southern  city  it  was  impossible  for 
the  people  who  stood  for  righteousness  to  get  the  facts  con- 
cerning evil  into  the  newspapers.  They  finally  published  a 
bulletin  of  their  own  which  told  the  truth.  Here  is  another 
challenge  to  a  special  group  of  workers.  Will  the  journalists 
purge  the  press  of  its  most  heinous  sin — the  malformation  of 
public  opinion  ? 

ii8 


ESTABLISHING  EQUAL  JUSTICE      [VIII-s] 

The  responsibility,  however,  cannot  all  be  placed  on  the 
workers  in  this  profession.  What  do  the  people  read?  What 
do  they  want  to  read  ?  Why  do  they  read  scare  headlines 
rather  than  solid  facts?  "I  do  not  want  to  know  the  unpleas- 
ant things"  is  a  common  attitude.  Scientific  training  boasts 
of  its  ability  to  face  all  the  facts.  It  must  cultivate  and  spread 
this  desire  through  the  whole  community.  Here  is  a  task  for 
those  who  would  live  out  the  social  principles  of  Jesus  in  any 
community :  to  secure  equality  in  the  making  of  law  and  the 
operation  of  the  courts;  to  elect  officials  who  will  fairly  admin- 
ister the  law;  to  allay  race  and  class  prejudice  and  to  develop 
and  inform  public  opinion — yet  even  these  things  are  not  suffi- 
cient to  realize  ideal  justice.  The  final  goal  is  social  justice, 
a  spiritual  end. 

Suggestions  for  Discussion  and  Action 

I.  Equal  Justice  in  a  Pioneer  Community 

Imagine  that  we  are  settled  in  a  new  community — either 
a  pioneer  mining  community,  or  a  town  in  an  agricultural 
region  newly  opened  to  settlement,  or  a  newly  created  indus- 
trial city.  Let  us  face  the  problem  of  establishing  and  main- 
taining equal  justice  in  such  a  community. 

1.  What  emergencies  will  first  demand  the  establishment 
of  the  machinery  of  justice?  What  will  be  the  first  mani- 
festations of  lawlessness? 

2.  What  effort  will  be  made  to  defeat  equal  opportunity 
and  right  for  all?  What  race  or  economic  group  is  most  in 
danger  of  being  discriminated  against? 

3.  What  can  a  group  of  Christian  citizens  do  who  want 
to  see  law  and  order  with  equal  rights  for  all  established 
and  maintained? 

II.  Securing  Equal  Justice  in  an  Established  Community 
Now  think  in  terms  of  some  well-established  community, 

preferably  your  own.     Let  some  one  do  this  for  a  foreign 
community. 

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[VIII-s]  CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

1.  How  far  have  we  solved  the  problem  of  securing 
equal  justice? 

2.  Where  are  the  points  at  which  we  have  failed?  In 
what  ways  have  we  succeeded? 

III.  Justice  in  Other  Lands 

1.  Describe  the  machinery  for  making,  interpreting,  and 
administering  the  law  in  an  African  tribe ;  in  a  Chinese 
community.    What  chance  is  there  to  secure  equal  justice? 

2.  What  changes  are  necessary  in  the  court  system  of  an 
Oriental  country  like  China?    What  is  being  done? 

IV.  Facing  a  Single  Problem 

Take  one  of  the  most  flagrant  cases  of  defeat  of  justice, 
such  as  disobedience  to  liquor  laws,  or  discrimination  against 
a  special  group,  such  as  the  immigrants.    What  can  be  done? 

1.  If  the  present  laws  are  inadequate  to  ensure  equal 
justice,  how  shall  we  go  about  it  to  have  them  changed? 
How  can  the  control  of  legislation  by  special  interests  be 
broken?  Must  the  people  use  the  same  methods  as  the 
special  interests? 

2.  If  the  courts  are  defeating  the  intent  of  the  public 
will,  what  can  be  done  by  the  people?  What  are  the  chief 
reasons  for  this  misinterpretation  of  law?  How  far  would 
the  recall  of  judges  solve  the  problem? 

3.  What  are  the  chief  forms  of  administration  of  law  in 
our  town?  If  the  mayor,  police  officer,  or  judge  fails  to 
administer  the  law  impartially,  who  is  to  blame?  Where  do 
they  fail  to  cooperate?  What  can  we  do  to  secure  the 
enforcement  of  law? 

4.  If  equal  justice  is  not  secured,  to  what  extent  is  public 
opinion  to  blame?  How  does  public  opinion  manifest  itself? 
How  is  public  opinion  formed  and  by  whom?  If  the  news- 
papers are  on  the  wrong  side,  what  can  be  done? 

5.  If  a  citizen  allows  injustice  to  go  unchallenged,  how 
far  does  he  share  in  the  guilt?  To  what  extent  can  a  single 
citizen  secure  the  proper  administration  of  law? 

120 


CHAPTER    IX 

GOOD  GOVERNMENT 

The  effort  to  Christianize  community  life  requires  the  opera- 
tion of  government.  All  the  great  social  reforms — the  aboli- 
tion of  child  labor,  the  reduction  of  infant  mortality,  the 
protection  of  children  from  vice,  the  improvement  of  educa- 
tion, the  abolition  of  poverty — every  one  of  them  involves 
government  action.  Efficiency  in  government  is  an  indispen- 
sable tool  for  social  progress.  But  it  must  be  another  kind  of 
efficiency  than  is  commonly  admired.  It  must  be  efficiency  in 
caring  for  all  the  interests  of  all  the  people,  in  giving  expres- 
sion to  the  common  vital  desires  of  the  whole  community. 
Such  a  government  is  the  people  doing  together  in  all  justice 
and  brotherhood  the  things  they  cannot  do  apart. 

Daily  Meditations 

First  Day  :  Autocracy  Fails 

The  arrogant  young  Rehoboam  thought  that  his  imperial 
will  gave  him  the  right  to  oppress  the  poor. 

And  the  king  answered  the  people  roughly,  and 
forsook  the  counsel  of  the  old  men  which  they  had 
given  him,  and  spake  to  them  after  the  counsel  of  the  ' 
young  men,  saying.  My  father  made  your  yoke  heavy, 
but  I  will  add  to  your  yoke :  my  father  chastised  you 
with  whips,  but  I  will  chastise  you  with  scorpions. 
So  the  king  hearkened  not  unto  the  people;  .  .  . 
And  when  all  Israel  saw  that  the  king  hearkened 
not  unto  them,  the  people  answered  the  king,  saying. 
What  portion  have  we  in  David?  neither  have  we  in- 
heritance in  the  son  of  Jesse :  to  your  tents,  O  Israel : 
now  see  to  thine  own  house,  David.  So  Israel  de- 
parted unto  their  tents.  But  as  for  the  children  of 
Israel  that  dwelt  in  the  cities  of  Judah,   Rehoboam 

121 


£IX-2]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

reigned  over  them.  Then  king  Rehoboam  sent 
Adoram,  who  was  over  the  men  subject  to  taskwork; 
and  all  Israel  stoned  him  to  death  with  Stones.  And 
king  Rehoboam  made  speed  to  get  him  up  to  his 
chariot,  to  flee  to  Jerusalem.  So  Israel  rebelled 
against  the  house  of  David  unto  this  day. — I  Kings 
12:  13-19- 

Here  is  a  glimpse  at  one  of  the  long  historical  processes,  the 
;age-long  attempt  of  the  strong  to  control  the  weak.  The 
robber  bandit,  the  brutal  chieftain,  set  themselves  up  in  power. 
They  pass  on  their  power  of  exploitation  to  their  family  and 
then  to  a  class.  Intrenched  in  economic  opportunity  and 
governmental  privilege,  their  descendants  continue  to  rule  at 
the  expense  of  the  weak.  One  of  our  modern  students  of 
.government  maintains  that  historically  the  state  is  the  instru- 
ment of  the  strong  for  economic  oppression.  Witness  the 
exploitation  of  China  by  the  Manchus,  and  the  land  question 
in  Ireland  and  Mexico.  What  powerful  economic  groups  are 
.-seeking  to  shape  the  destinies  of  the  people  of  the  United 
.States  and  to  control  her  policies? 

Second  Day:  Citizens  Must  Speak  Out 

Then  Amaziah  the  priest  of  Beth-el  sent  to  Jero- 
boam king  of  Israel,  saying,  Amos  hath  conspired 
against  thee  in  the  midst  of  the  house  of  Israel :  the 
land  is  not  able  to  bear  all  his  words.  For  thus  Amos 
•  saith,  Jeroboam  shall  die  by  the  sword,  and  Israel  shall 
surely  be  led  away  captive  out  of  his  land.  Also 
Amaziah  said  unto  Amos,  O  thou  seer,  go,  flee  thou 
;away  into  the  land  of  Judah,  and  there  eat  bread,  and 
prophesy  there :  but  prophesy  not  again  any  more  at 
Beth-el,;  for  it  is  the  king's  sanctuary,  and  it  is  a  royal 
house.  Then  answered  Amos,  and  said  to  Amaziah,  I 
was  no  prophet,  neither  was  I  a  prophet's  son ;  but  I 
was  a  herdsman,  and  a  dresser  of  sycomore-trees  :  and 
Jehovah  took  me  from  following  the  flock,  and  Je- 
hovah said  unto  me.  Go,  prophesy  unto  my  people 
Tsrael. — ^Amos  7 :,  10-15. 

122 


GOOD  GOVERNMENT.  [IX-3] 

Amos  had  no  license  to  preach.  He  was  a  common  worker 
of  the  soil,  "a  herdsman  and  a  dresser  of  sycomore  trees." 
But  he  could  not  keep  silent  in  the  presence  of  injustice.  The 
spirit  of  protest  within  him  and  the  voice  that  spoke  through 
him  was  of  Jehovah.  What  is  the  duty  of  a  citizen  of  a 
democracy  in  like  case?  Dare  he  keep  silent?  When  evil  is 
enthroned,  can  he  justify  himself  for  being  loyal  to  the  party 
and  forsaking  his  allegiance  to  the  whole  people?  The  prophet 
is  no  more  popular  in  a  democracy  than  he  is  at  court. 
Wendell  Phillips  was  the  idol  of  Boston  when  he  attacked 
slavery,  but  when  he  espoused  the  cause  of  the  workers  in  the 
cotton  mills,  he  walked  the  streets  in  lonely  ostracism.  In 
democratic  France,  Jaures  was  assassinated  because  he  wrote 
and  spoke  against  war.  Those  who  endeavor  to  lead  democ- 
racy to  God  must  be  willing  to  pay  the  price. 

Third  Day  :  Evil  Rulers  Condemned 

Then  spake  Jesus  to  the  multitudes  and  to  his  dis- 
ciples, saying,  The  scribes  and  the  Pharisees  sit  on 
Moses'  seat :  all  things  therefore  whatsoever  they  bid 
you,  these  do  and  observe :  but  do  not  ye  after  their 
works ;  for  they  say,  and  do  not.  Yea,  they  bind 
heavy  burdens  and  grievous  to  be  borne,  and  lay  them 
on  men's  shoulders ;  but  they  themselves  will  not  move 
them  with  their  finger. — Matt.  23 :  1-4. 

Why  did  the  rulers  get  the  bitterest  condemnation  of  Jesus? 
Was  it  their  temple  monopoly?  Was  it  their  swallowing  of 
widows'  houses  by  their  usury?  Was  it  the  burdens  they  piled 
upon  the  backs  of  the  poor?  The  effects  of  bad  government 
are  always  seen  at  their  worst  where  the  poor  live.  There  it 
means  dirty  alleys,  bad  housing,  and  no  moral  protection.  It 
multiplies  babies'  funerals,  and  boys  in  the  juvenile  court. 
If  government  is  to  be  an  agency  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
God,  its  power  must  strengthen  and  not  exploit  the  weak.  It 
must  improve  their  working  and  living  conditions.  What  is 
American  "business"  administration  of  governments?  Does 
it  mean  profitable  contracts  with  the  municipality  for  leading 

123 


[IX-4]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

firms,  while  the  costs  are  passed  on  indirectly  to  the  com- 
mon people?  Would  Jesus  not  trace  this  indirect  exploitation 
just  as  easily  as  he  uncovered  the  evil  of  the  temple  monopoly? 
Are  the  strong  men  and  women  of  the  colleges  going  to  sup- 
port the  kind  of  government  that  gives  special  privileges  to 
some  and  foredooms  others  to  weakness?  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  missionaries  are  not  welcomed  in  many  foreign  ports  by 
business  agents  of  alien  corporations,  who  are  present  to  drive 
hard  bargains  with  native  folks? 

Fourth  Day  :  The  Ideal  Leader  and  His  Strength 

For  unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is  given; 
and  the  government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulder :  and 
his  name  shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor, 
Mighty  God,  Everlasting  Father,  Prince  of  Peace. 
Of  the  increase  of  his  government  and  of  peace  there 
shall  be  no  end,  upon  the  throne  of  David,  and  upon 
his  kingdom,  to  establish  it,  and  to  uphold  it  with 
justice  and  with  righteousness  from  henceforth  even 
for  ever.  The  zeal  of  Jehovah  of  hosts  will  perform 
this. — Isa.  9:  6,  7. 

Read  also  Isa.  11 :  1-5. 

There  is  much  of  truth  in  the  old  adage:  "He  who  would 
command  must  first  learn  to  obey."  Only  the  man  who  is  able 
to  come  measurably  near  his  own  ideals  can  ever  commend 
them  to  the  people.  Notice  the  qualities  of  the  Great  Leader. 
He  is  the  counsellor,  the  adviser  of  the  people,  the  father, 
the  head  of  the  family  seeking  the  good  of  all  the  children, 
the  Prince  of  Peace,  seeking  not  dominion  or  power,  but  the 
establishment  of  brotherhood.  Do  you  see  such  leaders  in  the 
world  today?  Does  democracy  produce  them?  Are  they  pres- 
ent in  your  own  community?  Is  it  a  lawful  ambition  for  a 
man  to  seek  office  with  such  ideals  in  mind?  There  is  a  theory 
abroad  that  in  a  democracy  the  leader  of  the  people  should 
only  voice  public  opinion,  the  representative  should  only 
express  the  wishes  of  his  constituents.  But  should  not  a  leader 
make   public   opinion    instead   of    following   it?      Should   he 

124 


GOOD  GOVERNMENT  [IX-5] 

not  lead  his  constituents  as  well  as  serve  them?  How  does  the 
increase  of  intelligence  and  power  among  the  people  give 
greater  opportunities  to  the  real  leader  of  democracy? 

Fifth  Day:  Government  a  Cooperative  Enterprise 

Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fulfil  the  law 
of  Christ. — Gal.  6 :  2. 

The  keyword  of  our  democracy  is  government  "of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people."  They  make  it;  it  is 
responsible  to  them ;  it  operates  for  them.  Yet  we  still  talk 
about  government  as  though  it  were  some  institution  set  up 
over  us.  In  the  old  world,  government  was  an  institution 
to  impose  taxes,  to  maintain  order,  to  defend  the  people  against 
its  foes.  But  as  democracy  spreads,  the  real  enemies  of  the 
people  are  within  the  boundaries  of  the  nation.  Government 
then  becomes  the  agency  of  the  people  acting  together  to 
protect  and  develop  themselves.  What  is  involved  in  the  exten- 
sion of  government  in  our  community?  Do  the  people  already 
control  their  education,  their  recreation,  their  health,  their 
transportation?  Are  they  doing  these  things  together  as  one 
big  family?  In  what  ways  does  this  make  government  a 
field  of  Christian  service?  Meditate  upon  the  tragedy  of  the 
great  groups  of  the  world's  population  among  which  such 
conceptions  and  ideals  could  scarcely  be  voiced  as  yet,  because 
to  voice  them  would  invite  a  speedy  martyrdom. 

Sixth  Day  :  Government  Is  not  Rule  hut  Service 

Then  came  to  him  the  mother  of  the  sons  of  Zebedee 
with  her  sons,  worshipping  him,  and  asking  a  certain 
thing  of  him.  And  he  said  unto  her.  What  wouldest 
thou?  She  saith  unto  him,  Command  that  these  my 
two  sons  may  sit,  one  on  thy  right  hand,  and  one  on 
thy  left  hand,  in  thy  kingdom.  But  Jesus  answered 
and  said.  Ye  know  not  what  ye  ask.  Are  ye  able  to 
drink  the  cup  that  I  am  about  to  drink?  They  say 
unto  him.  We  are  able.  He  saith  unto  them.  My  cup 
indeed  ye  shall  drink :  but  to  sit  on  my  right  hand,  and 
on  my  left  hand,  is  not  mine  to  give;  but  it  is  for 

125 


riX-7]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

them  for  whom  it  hath  been  prepared  of  my  Father. 
And  when  the  ten  heard  it,  they  were  moved  with  in- 
dignation concerning  the  two  brethren.  But  Jesus 
called  them  unto  him,  and  said,  Ye  know  that  the 
rulers  of  the  Gentiles  lord  it  over  them,  and  their  great 
ones  exercise  authority  over  them.  Not  so  shall  it  be 
among  you :  but  whosoever  would  become  great  among 
you  shall  be  your  minister;  and  whosoever  would  be 
first  among  you  shall  be  your  servant:  even  as  the  Son 
of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many. — 
Matt.  20:  20-28. 

One  of  the  most  striking  phrases  of  the  Old  Testament 
describes  the  great  leader  of  the  people  as  the  Suffering 
Servant.  Here  is  the  secret  of  the  authority  of  Jesus.  It 
is  only  when  he  is  lifted  up  that  he  draws  the  world  unto 
himself.  The  world  today  calls  him  master  because  he  first 
called  himself  servant.  This  is  the  great  Christian  contribu- 
tion to  the  thought  of  government.  The  leaders  of  the  people 
are  now  called  public  servants.  Face  frankly  the  fact  that  this 
means  a  vast  raising  of  standards  on  the  part  of  public  offi- 
cials. But  a  large  part  of  the  earth  is  yet  in  the  grip  of  age- 
long governmental  extortion.  What  is  done  in  spite  of  public 
conscience  in  the  Christian  world  is  the  unchallenged  prac- 
tice of  those  countries.  When  the  taotai  of  a  certain  Chinese 
city  pays  some  three  thousand  taels  for  his  post,  receives  a 
nominal  salary,  and  retires  wealthy  at  the  end  of  three  years, 
he  has  achieved  success. 

As  we  extend  government  over  more  of  the  domain  of 
human  life,  everything  is  at  stake  unless  this  Christian  ideal 
of  service  can  be  maintained.  Are  college  men  and  women 
not  called  increasingly  to  be  unselfish  ministers  of  God  in 
the  public  service? 

Seventh  Day:  The  Final  Government  Is  of  God 

Thus  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts :  Behold,  I  will  save  my 
people    from    the    east    country,    and    from    the    west 
country;  and  I  will  bring  them,  and  they  shall  dwell 
126 


GOOD  GOVERNMENT  [IX-sJ 

in  the  midst  of  Jerusalem;  and  they  shall  be  my 
people,  and  I  will  be  their  God,  in  truth  and  in  right- 
eousness.— Zech.  8 :  7,  8. 

In  that  day  will  Jehovah  of  hosts  become  a  crown  of 
glory,  and  a  diadem  of  beauty,  unto  the  residue  of  his 
people;  and  a  spirit  of  justice  to  him  that  sitteth 
in  judgment,  and  strength  to  them  that  turn  back  the 
battle  at  the  gate.— Isa.  28 :  5,  6. 

The  old  Jewish  ideal  of  government  sought  to  establish  the 
authority  of  God.  It  was  to  be  God  living  in  the  midst  of  the 
people.  He  was  not  to  be  set  up  on  a  far-off  throne,  to  be 
represented  on  earth  by  monarchs  or  priests  with  divine  right 
and  power.  He  was  to  rule  in  reality  in  the  inner  courts  of 
life;  his  being  was  to  be  expressed  in  the  common  life,  in 
righteousness  and  justice  and  brotherhood.  Men  might  know 
ihat  he  was  among  them  by  whether  or  not  they  did  justly 
and  loved  mercy.  So  should  they  walk  humbly  with  him. 
Here    is   the   real   inspiration    and   authority   of   government. 

The  modern  world  needs  a  new  sense  of  the  place  of  God 
in  life.  "In  the  beginning  God,"  and  in  the  end  God.  The 
ideal  social  order  that  Jesus  would  establish  upon  the  earth 
is  something  more  than  a  house  built  with  hands,  something 
more  than  can  be  realized  in  time  and  space.  He  called  it 
the  Kingdom  of  God  because  he  lived  in  a  world  where  mon- 
archy had  long  been  the  accepted  form  of  government.  We 
need  a  conception  of  God  that  will  spiritualize  democracy  and 
be  real  for  industrial  communities.  Will  this  not  view  God 
as  the  Father,  the  Master  Workman,  working  with  all  the 
children  of  men  for  all  the  good  of  men?  Rightly  conceived, 
may  not  the  developing  social  sciences  be  thought  of  by  the 
Christian  college  man  as  a  progressive  discovery  of  the  will 
of  God  as  expressed  in  human  communal  life? 

Study  for  the  Week 

I 
The  average  citizen  wants  good  government.    For  most  men 
127 


[IX-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

it  is  the  smooth  administration  of  law  and  order.  Mr.  Good 
Citizen  is  very  well  satisfied  if  his  house  is  secure  from 
burglars,  if  he  need  not  be  troubled  by  the  sight  of  vice  upon 
the  streets,  if  the  processes  of  business  life  are  uninterrupted, 
if  his  particular  ventures  are  not  interfered  with.  The 
Chinese  citizen  under  the  old  government  was  well  content  if 
the  officials  left  him^alone  and  the  taxes  were  not  too  exorbi- 
tant. 

When  in  times  of  peace  a  strong-arm  sheriff  runs  any  law- 
abiding  body  of  citizens  off  the  streets  and  denies  them  the 
constitutional  right  of  free  speech,  what  becomes  of  the 
American  ideal  of  government?  It  is  not  satisfied  with  the 
military  conception,  the  mere  control  of  the  external  forces 
of  disorder  by  the  strong  hand  of  superior  force.  Does  such 
government  not  leave  untouched  many  of  the  most  powerful 
enemies  of  community  life?  It  was  in  such  a  time  of  "peace 
and  prosperity"  that  this  country  was  defrauded  of  millions 
of  dollars  in  customs  dues  by  the  sugar  trust,  whose  lawyer- 
protected  "men  higher  up"  were  never  branded  with  the  trea- 
son for  which  they  were  responsible.  There  have  been  enough 
instances  like  that  in  recent  years  to  spread  among  the  prop- 
ertyless  a  bitterness  and  distrust  that  menace  the  foundations 
of  law  and  order. 

The  mayor  of  a  certain  city  was  pricked  beneath  his  skin 
by  the  traveling  evangelist  whom  he  heard  preach.  He  went 
back  to  his  office  and  ordered  the  lid  on  the  red  light  district. 
The  next  Monday  there  came  to  his  office  a  delegation  of  the 
leading  retail  business  merchants.  They  said :  "Mr.  Mayor, 
we  beheve  in  decency,  but  the  levee  district  brings  us  a  lot  of 
out  of  town  trade,  especially  on  Saturday  nights.  Can't  you 
raise  the  lid  just  a  little?"  What  the  mayor  said  to  them 
was  more  vigorous  than  printable.  When  opium  was  pro- 
hibited in  China  the  merchants  of  Shanghai,  with  twenty 
million  dollars'  worth  of  opium  on  their  hands,  begged  the 
government  to  lift  the  ban  just  enough  to  let  this  mass  of 
poison  be  consumed.  By  the  aid  of  British  diplomacy  they 
succeeded.      In    any    community    those    who    would    improve 

128 


GOOD  GOVERNMENT  [IX-s] 

government  must  look  under  the  surface  and  find  the  secret 
influences  that  control  it.  Do  we  know  them  for  our  com- 
munity? Are  we  able  to  identify  them  with  evidence  suffi- 
cient to  convince  the  people? 

II 

For  some  time  now  the  American  people  have  been  .on  the 
trail  of  invisible  government.  The  muckraker  has  been  joy- 
ously abroad  in  the  land.  The  record  of  our  bosses  and  their 
overlords  is  painfully  familiar.  The  "Shame  of  the  Cities" 
came  near  to  undoing  our  popular  government,  but  it  has 
proved  the  saving  salt,  even  though  the  wound  still  smarts. 

It  is  the  impulse  of  most  young  men  to  reform  political  cor- 
ruption. But  many  a  man  has  found  himself  silenced  in  the 
convention  or  cowed  by  strong-arm  men  at  the  polls.  In 
places  where  this  rough  work  is  no  longer  tolerated,  the  insur- 
gent finds  the  precinct  system  of  organization  by  which  every 
individual  is  known,  operated  by  men  who  make  their  living 
out  of  politics.  Facing  these  conditions,  he  either  gives  up  in 
despair  and  "stands  in  with  the  machine,"  or  turns  to  find  what 
forces  can  be  organized  for  good. 

One  bright  page  of  our  political  record  is  the  story  of  the 
fight  against  the  bosses.  Here  is  a  story  of  modern  patriots 
who  dared  the  common  enemy  within  their  own  parties  and 
among  their  own  friends.  Some  have  taken  their  lives  in  their 
hands  and  fought  the  battle  of  civic  righteousness  with  all 
the  abandon  of  missionary  martyrs.  And  this  fight  is  not  done. 
It  has  to  reckon  not  only  with  the  boss,  but  also  with  the 
"regular  voter,"  who  is  the  strength  of  the  boss.  The  "good 
citizen"  has  done  some  amazing  things  in  our  civic  history. 
In  one  state  a  leading  educator  was  elected  governor  by  the 
machine,  against  the  candidate  for  real  reform,  by  an  alli- 
ance of  the  underworld  and  reliable  "party"  men,  including 
most  of  the  men  of  the  churches.  The  key  to  the  situation  lies 
in  the  hands  of  the  independent  voter — the  man  who  follows 
his  honest  judgment  and  conscience,  whatever  his  party  con- 
nections.    There  can  be  no  real  freedom  from  political  cor- 

129 


[IX-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

ruption  until  the  power  of  the  political  machine  is  broken.  To 
overcome  it  the  ordinary  citizen  must  often  take  the  attitude 
of  the  rebel  and  stand  a  rebel's  punishment.  He  must  face 
all  the  forces  that  are  brought  to  bear  upon  the  man  that  chal- 
lenges the  power  of  "the  organization."  One  of  our  great 
political  scandals  centered  around  the  knowledge  of  a  business 
man  concerning  certain  transactions.  When  he  began  to  make 
public  his  knowledge,  he  was  not  only  threatened  but  actu- 
ally subjected  to  almost  unbelievable  attacks.  His  home 
and  children  had  to  be  constantly  guarded.  His  reputation 
was  assailed  with  the  foulest  lies — the  price  many  another 
man  has  had  to  pay.  The  people  must  be  made  to  see  the 
throttling  power  of  political  corruption.  Now  it  is  often 
obscured  in  darkness  and  ignorance.  It  must  be  brought  out 
in  dramatic  form.  The  final  defeat  of  the  "gray  wolves"  in 
the  Chicago  Council  was  not  accomplished  until  there  was  a 
rebellion  in  the  legislature  that  drove  the  speaker  from  the 
chair.  This  movement  was  led  by  a  college  professor.  Is 
heroism  dead  in  our  colleges? 

IV 

The  American  panacea  for  bad  government  is  the  improve- 
ment of  the  machinery.  Direct  primaries,  the  commission 
plan,  the  city  manager — these  are  all  attempts  to  administer 
local  government  with  business  efficiency. 

The  Christian  ideal,  however,  is  not  satisfied  by  honesty  and 
efficiency  in  government.  It  demands  government  by  the 
people.  There  is  danger  that  the  educated,  the  righteous,  and 
the  rich  will  consider  themselves  chosen  to  govern  the  whole 
community.  We  may  pay  too  high  a  price  for  the  achievement 
of  efficiency  in  government  at  the  hands  of  any  one  of  these 
groups.  Unless  the  common  people  are  directly  in  control,  our 
last  state  may  be  worse  than  the  first. 

For  powerful  business  interests  in  America  to  defeat  the 
growing  movement  for  a  real  government  of  the  people  by 
offering  efficiency  of  administration  with  one  hand,  while 
with  the  other  they  take  special  privileges  in  profit-making,  is 

130 


GOOD  GOVERNMENT  [IX-s] 

even  a  greater  sin  against  the  Commonwealth  of  God  than 
that  of  the  open  grafter.  It  is  a  universal  tendency.  Chinese 
governors  with  their  "squeeze,"  Indian  princes  with  their 
fabulous  tax  revenues,  African  chiefs  with  their  enforced 
tribute,  "Boss  Tweed"  with  his  graft — they  are  all  birds  of  a 
feather.  Will  their  kin  persist?  How  can  Christianity  exter- 
minate them  all  from  the  earth? 


The  Christian  ideal  of  the  community  life  as  a  great  family 
is  coming  to  prevail,  and  government  thus  becomes  increasingly 
a  matter  of  community  house-keeping.  It  involves  the  pro- 
vision of  water  and  food  and  health,  of  play  and  education. 
It  is  a  ministry  to  the  vital  needs  of  the  family.  Christianity 
has  transferred  the  spirit  of  compassion  which  animates  the 
family  over  into  the  organized  institutions  of  the  community. 
Human  welfare  is  now  the  paramount  business  of  government. 
This  means  a  great  advance  in  government  ideal  in  America. 
The  poor-house,  the  city  and  county  hospital,  the  outdoor 
relief,  tuberculosis  hospital — do  we  think  of  these  when  we 
vote?  They  spend  our  money,  do  they  represent  our  purpose? 
Would  the  physician  in  charge  of  a  great  municipal  sanitarium 
have  gone  to  his  death  hopeless  over  the  attack  of  the  politi- 
cians upon  his  institution,  if  the  college  group  or  the  church 
group  of  his  city  had  been  alert  to  stand  by  their  common 
interests  which  he  was  defending  with  his  very  life?  And  yet 
is  it  any  less  shameful  for  business  men  to  graft  on  school 
books,  coal  contracts,  or  franchises,  than  for  the  politicians 
to  graft  on  the  poor-house  and  the  hospital? 

Progressive  communities  are  discovering  new  adventures 
in  government.  To  provide  recreation  on  a  community-wide 
plan ;  to  broaden  education ;  to  warn  the  people  against  the 
effects  of  alcohol  and  social  vice — these  are  some  of  the  newer 
functions  of  progressive  municipalities.  This  calls  for  new 
types  of  public  officials.  It  opens  large  opportunities  for 
college  trained  men  and  women,  both  in  professional  and  vol- 
unteer service.     Recently  an  engineer  engaged  upon  the  prob- 

131 


[IX-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

lem  of  bringing  a  pure  water  supply  to  a  Western  city  from 
the  distant  mountains  was  offered  four  times  his  salary  by  a 
private  corporation.  He  refused  the  offer.  He  preferred  to 
serve  the  people  rather  than  to  make  money  for  a  private 
business  group.  In  China  Sir  Robert  Hart  devoted  his  life  to 
the  reorganization  of  the  customs,  helping  China  to  free  her- 
self from  the  exploitation  of  other  governments  and  her  own 
traditional  corruption.  He  might  easily  have  reached  high 
office  in  England. 

When  trained  minds  will  set  themselves  to  the  task  of  mak- 
ing government  the  servant,  and  not  the  master  of  the  people, 
the  tool  of  the  community  development  instead  of  the  instru- 
ment of  its  oppression,  there  will  be  new  fields  to  be  ploughed 
that  have  never  yet  been  cleared.  Here  in  America  the  task 
is  to  purify  popular  government  and  to  broaden  its  scope.  But 
in  countries  holding  more  than  half  the  world's  population, 
some  of  its  peoples  of  strongest  stock,  the  whole  future  of 
government  is  in  the  making.  China,  just  at  the  beginning 
of  popular  direction  of  the  country's  affairs;  the  Philippines, 
with  their  future  still  undecided ;  India,  with  its  yearnings 
for  a  larger  share  in  national  control ;  the  Near  East  seeth- 
ing with  revolution;  the  Western  nations  extending  the 
borders  of  democracy — here  is  revealed  a  struggle  for  govern- 
ment "by  the  people"  confined  to  no  cHme  or  race,  uniting  in 
a  common  fellowship  the  workers  for  good  government  in 
every  community.  What  change  would  it  make  in  American 
life  in  ten  years  if  this  generation  of  college  men  and  women 
were  to  take  a  civic  oath  of  service  in  local  government,  just 
as  the  Athenian  youth  took  an  oath  for  the  defence  of  the 
Greek  commonwealth? 

Suggestions  for  Discussion  and  Action 

I.     Conditions  of  Local  Government 

I.  Who  is  in  control  of  municipal  affairs?  Is  there  a 
boss?  What  indications  are  there  of  the  presence  of  graft? 
Are  the  grafters  organized  as  a  gang? 

132 


GOOD  GOVERNMENT  [IX-s] 

2.  What  control  of  municipal  affairs  by  large  commercial 
and  industrial  enterprises  can  be  discovered? 

3.  Has  the  community  received  adequate  returns  from 
franchises?  How  are  public  utilities  handled?  What  spe- 
cial concessions  are  made  to  certain  groups? 

4.  Are  the  taxes  high  or  low?  Why?  Are  the  poorer 
sections  of  the  city  discriminated  against  in  public  im- 
provements? 

5.  What  is  the  character  of  public  officers?  To  what 
extent  are  they  bound  by  pre-election  pledges?  To  what 
extent  are  they  acting  as  pubHc  servants? 

6.  What  is  our  appraisal  of  the  character  and  efficiency 
of  our  local  government? 

n.     Recent  Progress  in  Local  Government 

1.  What  have  been  the  outstanding  items  of  progress  in 
local  government  in  the  last  four  years?  Discuss  together 
how  they  were  accomplished.  What  lessons  do  they  bring 
for  the  future? 

2.  Is  there  a  municipal  league?  Are  there  direct  pri- 
maries? Is  there  municipal  ownership  of  public  utilities? 
What  have  been  the  most  effective  ways  of  fighting  graft? 

III.  Advance  Steps  in  the  Local  Government 

1.  What  is  the  most  outstanding  present  need? 

2.  To  what  extent  does  the  local  government  hold  itself 
responsible  for  the  community  as  a  whole  in  some  such  way 
as  the  family  does  for  its  members?  Is  there  a  department 
of  recreation?  Is  the  health  department  really  preventing 
disease?  How?  How  far  have  the  newer  ideals  of  educa- 
tion been  adopted?  What  special  measures  have  been  under- 
taken for  safeguarding  and  developing  the  lives  of  children? 

3.  What  improvements  in  the  city  "housekeeping"  most 
urgently  demand  the  support  of  college  graduates? 

IV.  Government  Progress  in  Other  Lands 

I.  What  hope  is  there  of  securing  permanent  democratic 
government  in  China?  in  India?  in  the  Near  East? 

•  133 


CHAPTER  X 

OVERTHROWING  THE  COMMON 
ENEMIES 

To  tackle  one  social  evil  in  any  community  anywhere  is  to 
encounter  the  opposition  of  those  who  make  profit  out  of  it, 
and  finally  of  all  whom  they  can  bribe,  silence,  or  otherwise 
control.  If  any  college  man  scorns  Christianity  because  it 
seems  to  him  to  lack  fight,  let  him  come  in  on  this  affair  and 
he  will  find  out  whether  his  Christianity  has  any  punch 
in  it  Any  venturesome  spirits  in  the  college  world  who  find 
the  ordinary  paths  of  life  dull  and  prosaic  will  get  all  the 
excitement  they  want  the  first  day  they  strike  the  trail  that 
leads  to  the  Commonwealth  of  God. 

Daily  Meditations 
First  Day:  Real  Fighters  Needed 

Who  through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought 
righteousness,  obtained  promises,  stopped  the  mouths 
of  lions,  quenched  the  power  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge 
of  the  sword,  from  weakness  were  made  strong, 
waxed  mighty  in  war,  turned  to  flight  armies  of  aliens. 
— Heb.  II :  33,  34. 

I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished  the 
course,  I  have  kept  the  faith. — II  Tim.  4:  7. 

Paul's  word  to  Timothy  was  not  a  mere  figure  of  speech. 
He  was  a  battle-scarred  veteran  in  deed  and  truth,  and  he  is 
no  exception.  The  powers  of  darkness  are  organized  to  over- 
throw the  Commonwealth  of  God.  The  head  of  every  man 
who  stands  up  to  battle  for  it  is  a  target  for  them.  There  were 
martyrs  in  China  in  1900;  in  Armenia  in  1916.  God's 
country  is  invaded  by  the  hosts  of  evil,  but  the  warfare  of 
Christianity  is  not  merely  defensive.  It  is  aggressive,  with 
the  purpose  of  transforming  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  into 

134 


OVERTHROWING  COMMON  ENEMIES     [X-2] 

the  Kingdom  of  Christ.     The  war  must  be  carried  into  the 
enemies'  country. 

Jesus  calls  for  no  soft-handed,  weak-kneed,  spineless  fol- 
lowers, but  for  big  two-handed  fighting  men.  The  struggle 
calls  as  well  for  the  fighting  qualities  of  womanhood — their 
tenacity,  their  enduring  courage — forces  of  untold  value  in 
reckoning  the  battle  rank  of  Christianity.  Whether  the  fighi 
is  here  in  America  or  on  the  forefront  in  Asia,  none  can 
qualify  save  those  who  are  clad  in  the  whole  armor  of  God. 

Second  Day:  Defending  the  Common  Rights 

From  that  time  began  Jesus  to  show  unto  his  dis- 
ciples, that  he  must  go  unto  Jerusalem,  and  suffer 
many  things  of  the  elders  and  chief  priests  and  scribes, 
and  be  killed,  and  the  third  day  be  raised  up.  And 
Peter  took  him,  and  began  to  rebuke  him,  saying,  Be 
it  far  from  thee.  Lord :  this  shall  never  be  unto  thee. 
But  he  turned,  and  said  unto  Peter,  Get  thee  behind 
me,  Satan :  thou  art  a  stumbling-block  unto  me :  for 
thou  mindest  not  the  things  of  God,  but  the  things  of 
men.  Then  said  Jesus  unto  his  disciples.  If  any  man 
would  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take 
up  his  cross,  and  follow  me.  For  whosoever  would 
save  his  life  shall  lose  it :  and  whosoever  shall  lose 
his  life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it. — Matt.  16:  21-  25. 

Peter  was  a  first-class  fighting  man.  The  trouble  was  not 
with  his  courage.  He  had  the  fiery  spirit  of  the  Galilean.  The 
trouble  was  that  he  did  not  understand  Jesus'  manner  of  war- 
fare nor  his  motive  in  fighting.  He  could  not  understand 
him  who  would  not  allow  a  sword  to  be  drawn  in  his  behalf 
but  would  die  gladly  for  the  people ;  who  would  raise  no 
hand  for  himself,  but  did  raise  his  hand  in  the  temple  for  the 
rights  of  the  people.  Peter  was  still  engrossed  in  personal 
ends.  They  bulked  too  large  in  his  scheme  of  things.  Jesus 
was  seeking  nothing  personal,  but  with  single  mind  the  salva- 
tion of  the  world.  Here  is  the  peril  of  all  those  who  fight, 
even  in  the  warfare  for  justice.  They  are  likely  to  become 
so  absorbed  in  the  struggle  that  their  own  ends  take  the  place 

135 


[X-3]       CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

of  the  community  good.  As  in  local  issues  the  test  is  always 
the  seeking  of  the  highest  good  for  the  whole  community, 
so  in  national  issues  the  touch-stone  is  the  common  rights  of 
humanity.  Are  these  too  big  and  vague  and  far  away  for 
us  to  follow  even  now?  How  far  are  we  actually  following 
just  the  desires  of  our  own  hearts  in  the  things  we  fight  for? 

Third  Day  :  Jesus  the  Fighting  Pacifist 

But  I  say  unto  you,  Resist  not  him  that  is  evil: 
but  whosoever  smiteth  thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn 
to  him  the  other  also.— Matt.  5.  39. 

There  is  an  attempt  today  to  discount  the  teaching  of 
Jesus — to  treat  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  as  a  mere  scrap  of 
paper,  because  he  is  believed  to  teach  non-resistance.  "This 
is  not  practical,"  we  are  told,  "evil  must  be  overcome,  or  it 
will  overcome  the  world;  therefore  it  must  be  fought  against." 
But  is  this  a  true  interpretation  of  Jesus'  teaching?  Was  he 
a  passive  resister?  Did  he  fold  his  hands  in  the  presence  of 
evil  and  let  it  pursue  its  deadly  way  unchecked  and  unop- 
posed? Jesus  proclaimed  his  intention  of  casting  evil  out  of 
the  world.  He  sees  Satan  falling  from  Heaven;  he  sees  the 
leaven  of  his  Kingdom  transforming  the  whole  world;  his 
attitude  is  militant  and  aggressive,  but  his  method  is  not  the 
method  of  the  militarist.  He  will  not  use  the  weapons  of 
evil,  for  he  sees  clearly  that  to  accept  its  methods  is  to  give  it 
triumph.  He  will  destroy  hate  with  love.  Can  evil  be  over- 
come merely  by  force? 

Fourth  Day  :  Opposing  the  Enemies  of  Community  Life 

Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites ! 
■  for  ye  compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte; 
and  when  he  is  become  so,  ye  make  him  twofold  more 
a  son  of  hell  than  yourselves.  .  .  .  Woe  unto  you, 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  for  ye  tithe  mint 
and  anise  and  cummin,  and  have  left  undone  the 
weightier  matters  of  the  law,  justice,  and  mercy,  and 
faith:  but  these  ye  ought  to  have  done,  and  not  to 
have  left  the  other  undone.  Ye  blind  guides,  that 
136 


OVERTHROWIXG  COMMON  ENEMIES      [X-5] 

strain  out  the  gnat,  and  swallow  the  camel !  Woe  unto 
you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites  !  for  ye  cleanse 
the  outside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  platter,  but  within 
they  are  full  from  extortion  and  excess. — Matt.  23 : 
15,  23-25. 

To  get  the  effect  of  these  words,  we  must  consider  to  whom 
they  were  addressed.  It  is  as  if  today  Jesus  were  speaking 
to  church  officials  and  judges.  He  is  carrying  the  war  straight 
into  the  enemy's  country.  Having  once  identified  the  real 
enemies  of  the  people,  having  once  become  sure  of  his  facts, 
he  uses  no  soft  words.  It  is  considered  improper  today  to 
criticize  established  authority  in  church  or  state.  "We  must 
exercise  the  spirit  of  Christian  charity."  To  call  to  account 
the  powers  that  be  in  religion,  politics,  or  the  labor  world, 
is  not  pleasant  business.  Yet  "spiritual  wickedness  in  high 
places"  must  be  faced  and  fearlessly  opposed.  Notice  that 
Jesus  denounces  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  because  they  are 
community  enemies.  They  have  defrauded  the  people  of  reli- 
gion; they  have  become  usurers  and  extortioners.  Think  of 
the  courage  of  it — remember  who  filed  the  charges  before 
Pilate!     How  shall  his  disciples  follow  in  his  train? 

Fifth  Day:  Lonely  Hours  Assured  to  Christian  Fighters 

A  young  minister  who  found  vice  was  destroying  his  com- 
munity was  unable  to  secure  the  enforcement  of  law  by  the 
officials.  He  was  compelled  himself  to  do  it.  He  got  into 
the  newspapers.  He  successfully  proved  his  case  against  the 
administration  and  then  the  ministers  of  his  denomination  in 
meeting  assembled  censured  him  for  securing  undesirable 
notoriety  and  bade  him  stick  to  his  pulpit.  This  was  harder 
for  him  to  bear  than  to  fight  the  organized  forces  of  evil. 
The  most  difficult  thing  Jesus  had  to  endure  was  not  the 
attacks  of  the  scribes  and  the  Pharisees  but  the  subtle  treachery 
of  Judas.  A  man  who  fights  for  righteousness  has  to  learn 
sometimes  that  his  foes  shall  be  "they  of  his  own  household." 

It  is  a  lonesome  business  to  stand  out  against  one's  friends — 

137 


[X-6]        CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

a  far  more  difficult  matter  than  to  face  one's  foes.  "He 
came  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  received  him  not."  When 
his  followers  endure  to  the  end,  what  compensations  come  to 
them  as  they  came  to  him !  What  honor  is  due  to  those 
who,  lonely  and  single-handed,  have  inaugurated  the  fight 
against  the  social  evils  of  the  non-Christian  world! 

Sixth  Day  :  Lust  for  Profit — the  Arch  Enemy 

No  man  can  serve  two  masters :  for  either  he  will 
hate  the  one,  and  love  the  other ;  or  else  he  will  hold 
to  one,  and  despise  the  other.  Ye  cannot  serve  God 
and  mammon. — Matt.  6  :  24. 

One  of  the  gains  in  the  campaign  for  the  Christian  Com- 
monwealth is  that  we  are  now  able  so  clearly  to  identify  its 
foes.  Our  recent  journalistic  exposures,  our  scientific  sur- 
veys, our  analysis  of  social  conditions,  have  clearly  given  us 
the  facts  concerning  the  foes  of  community  life.  But  these 
deal  for  the  most  part  with  surface  conditions.  Underneath 
there  is  a  common  foe,  manifesting  itself  now  in  one  form 
and  now  in  another.  The  people  of  the  churches  fight  vice, 
and  the  working  group  fight  economic  injustice,  yet  behind 
both  vice  and  economic  injustice  stands  the  arch  enemy — the 
lust  for  profit.  Back  of  all  the  lesser  gods  of  evil  is  the 
mightier  god  of  mammon.  Was  Paul  right?  Is  the  love  of 
money  "a  root  of  all  kinds  of  evil"?  Does  it  involve  the  love 
of  comfort,  of  power,  of  special  privilege?  Is  it  producing 
the  unjust  social  conditions  of  our  time?  Is  this  the  golden 
altar  upon  which  human  lives  have  been  sacrificed  in  every 
generation?  Is  it  the  last  great  foe  of  the  Christian  Com- 
monwealth? If  it  is,  we  are  fighting  a  fatal  fundamental 
wickedness  to  which  no  quarter  can  be  given. 

Seventh  Day  :  Let's  Have  Community  Team  Work 

Then  Jezebel  sent  a  messenger  unto  Elijah,  saying, 
So  let  the  gods  do  to  me,  and  more  also,  if  I  make 
not  thy  life  as  the  life  of  one  of  them  by  to-morrow 
about  this  time.    And  when  he  saw  that,  he  arose,  and 

138 


OVERTHROWING  COMMON  ENEMIES      [X-7] 

went  for  his  life,  and  came  to  Beer-sheba,  which  be- 
longeth  to  Judah,  and  left  his  servant  there.  But  he 
himself  went  a  day's  journey  into  the  wilderness,  and 
came  and  sat  down  under  a  juniper-tree:  and  he  re- 
•  quested  for  himself  that  he  might  die,  and  said,  It 
is  enough;  now,  O  Jehovah,  take  away  my  life;  for  I 
am  not  better  than  my  fathers.  .  .  .  And  he  came 
thither  unto  a  cave,  and  lodged  there ;  and,  behold,  the 
word  of  Jehovah  came  to  him,  and  he  said  unto  him, 
What  doest  thou  here,  Elijah?  And  he  said,  I  have 
been  very  jealous  for  Jehovah,  the  God  of  hosts;  for 
the  children  of  Israel  have  forsaken  thy  covenant, 
thrown  down  thine  altars,  and  slain  thy  prophets  with 
the  sword :  and  I,  even  I  only,  am  left ;  and  they  seek 
my  life,  to  take  it  away. — I  Kings  19 :  2-4,  9-10.' 

It  is  folly  today  in  most  communities  to  be  fighting  evil 
alone  and  single-handed,  for  evil  is  socialized  and  mobilized. 
The  only  effective  way  to  meet  it  is  to  organize  all  the  forces 
of  good.  This  is  one  of  the  compelling  tasks  of  leadership  in 
all  communities — to  get  together  the  people  who  believe  in 
righteousness,  the  forces  of  good  will.  This  is  the  principle 
back  of  the  rapidly  developing  interdenominational  union  of 
cooperative  movements  in  mission  lands.  Organized  team 
work  is  what  is  needed.  In  battle,  a  regiment  goes  to  pieces 
when  its  officers  are  killed,  unless  there  be  some  leader  to 
step  into  the  breach  and  rally  the  forces.  So  in  any  com- 
munity there  needs  to  be  a  rallying  point  in  the  fight  against 
evil.  Some  courageous  personality  is  often  all  that  is  needed 
to  fuse  the  latent  forces  of  righteousness  into  an  effective 
organization.  In  one  city  in  this  country  a  man  whose  name 
was  known  to  but  few  people,  was  for  years  the  vital  force 
in  getting  together  all  the  agencies  for  good.  By  his  quiet, 
unobtrusive  influence  he  was  able  to  become  a  focal  point, 
uniting  those  who  otherwise  never  would  have  worked  to- 
gether. Many  a  plan  and  many  an  achievement  for  progress 
originated  in  that  man's  mind,  but  the  public  never  knew  that 
this  unselfish,  devoted  personality  behind  the  scenes  was  its  real 
leader. 

139 


[X-s]        CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

Study  for  the  Week 

I 

A  few  years  ago  a  college  graduate  went  into  the  min- 
istry. He  had  the  tastes  and  training  of  a  scholar.  His  own 
choice  would  have  been  a  professor's  chair,  but  the  turn  of 
denominational  machinery  put  him  into  a  city  pastorate.  He 
saw  vice  encroaching  upon  the  life  of  the  young  people  of  the 
community.  He  came  to  understand  the  system  by  which  the 
underworld  is  permitted  to  do  its  business.  He  organized  a 
neighborhood  club  and  secured  convictions  for  some  local 
offenders.  Gradually  the  evidence  came  in  against  those 
"higher  ujd"  who  were  receiving  the  big  money  from  the  vice 
business.  One  of  his  church  members  was  a  local  politician. 
With  his  backing  he  proceeded  to  gather  evidence  against  the 
administration.  His  plan  became  known  and  the  beast  bared 
its  fangs.  The  work  was  all  done  quietly  and  very  respect- 
ably. Word  came  from  the  city  hall  to  the  local  politician : 
"You  stop  the  mouth  of  that  preacher,  or  you'll  get  yours!" 
Soon  there  was  a  meeting  of  the  church  board  and  a  request 
was  made  that  the  minister  resign  from  the  presidency  of  the 
Neighborhood  Club.  Said  a  prominent  surgeon  who  heard  his 
answer :  ''Talk  about  your  militant  Christianity !  That  boy 
did  me  more  good  in  five  minutes  than  all  the  sermons  I  have 
heard  in  a  life  time." 

A  pastor  in  a  town  of  1,200  saw  the  saloon  undermining  the 
common  life.  He  preached  against  it.  He  agitated  the  matter 
with  other  ministers  and  leading  laymen.  A  community 
organization  was  formed  to  rally  the  public  opinion  of  the 
town.  The  question  came  to  the  polls  and  liquor  was  voted 
out.  Then  a  place  was  slyly  opened  in  an  alley.  Proof  of 
liquor  selling  was  secured  and  the  offender  prosecuted,  and 
the  law  enforced.  Then  came  a  long  steady  campaign  to 
keep  public  opinion  staunch  against  the  saloon  and  to  hold 
the  town  dry.  The  fight  was  typical  of  a  thousand  others  the 
nation  over  by  which  the  saloon  has  been  driven  out  of  three- 
fourths  of  the  area  of  the  United  States. 

140 


OVERTHROWING  COMMON  ENEMIES      [X-s] 

.  Opium  was  for  years  the  curse  of  China,  following  the 
treaty  of  i860  with  Great  Britain.  Missionaries  worked 
against  it,  and  long  before  any  effective  national  measures 
had  been  taken,  no  opium  smoker  was  accepted  as  a  church 
member.  Later  an  anti-opium  league  was  organized.  Next 
a  memorial  signed  by  1,333  missionaries  of  all  nationalities 
'from  450  cities  was  sent  to  the  throne.  Then  came  the  impe- 
rial decrees  of  1906-8  against  poppy-growing  and  opium  smok- 
ing. But  such  decrees  amounted  to  little  more  than  advice  to 
the  provinces.  There  the  fight  was  waged  by  Chinese  and 
foreigners  together.  But  Great  Britain  was  not  eager  to  give 
up  her  lucrative  trade  in  Indian  opium  with  China.  Finally  it 
was  agreed  that  Indian  importations  should  be  reduced  year 
by  year  as  poppy-growing  in  China  was  stopped.  By  this 
time  a  National  Opium  Prohibition  Union,  under  Chinese 
leadership,  had  been  formed.  A  national  gathering  was  held 
and  prohibitive  action  hastened.  By  1915  it  seemed  probable 
that  fifteen  of  the  eighteen  provinces  had  been  closed  to  the 
opium  traffic.  The  public  burning  of  $50,000  worth  of  the 
drug  in  Tientsin  was  but  one  of  many  spectacular  incidents  of 
this  remarkable  nation-wide  campaign. 

II 

These  are  no  isolated  incidents.  In  every  community,  in 
every  nation,  there  are  those  who  work  against  its  well- 
being.  They  possess  great  areas  of  our  community  life. 
Some  of  them  work  openly  and  brazenly,  others,  beneath  the 
surface,  plot  in  darkness.  We  call  them  "the  underworld." 
They  have  dug  themselves  in  deep.  They  will  not  be  dis- 
lodged without  a  struggle.  The  attempt  to  make  the  world 
Christian  is  no  holiday  parade.  When  the  plans  of  evil  are 
really  resisted  in  the  community,  when  they  are  thwarted, 
then  the  beast  rages.  In  the  same  campaign  in  the  first 
city  mentioned  above,  a  young  college  professor  was  hounded 
to  another  city  and  a  militant  reformer  was  threatened  with 
death.  This  is  no  light  battle.  Those  who  face  the  many- 
headed  beast  must  be  prepared  to  endure  danger  and  to  suffer 

141 


[X-s]        CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

wounds.  The  price  is  heavy.  Ask  Rose  Livingstone  with  the 
scars  on  her  body,  or  Ben  Lindsey  with  the  wounds  in  his 
soul. 

We  have  been  trained  to  think  in  the  terms  of  individuals, 
but  the  foes  of  the  community  are  not  simply  individuals  of 
evil  mind  and  malicious  purpose.  Evil  is  mobilized.  It  moves 
mighty  forces  in  great  campaigns.  A  Christian  worker  was 
instrumental  in  securing  the  conversion  of  a  young  college 
graduate  whose  brains  had  been  hired  by  the  liquor  forces. 
Going  to  New  York  with  him  one  day  he  said :  "Were  you  ever 
here  before?"  "Yes,"  he  replied.  "What  were  you  doing?" 
"I  was  working  out  a  plan  to  help  the  liquor  people  keep 
the  small  towns  of  the  state  from  ^oing  dry."  In  his  own  little 
community  that  Christian  worker  at  that  very  time  was 
engaged  in  a  fight  to  keep  the  town  from  remaining  wet. 
Here  was  a  little  group  of  workers  in  a  remote  community, 
fighting  a  great  national  organization  with  its  money  and 
its  hired  brains  and  not  knowing  the  forces  that  were  arrayed 
against  them. 

Evil  has  been  mobilized  in  other  forms.  The  evidence  of  a 
gambling  trust  perennially  appears  in  the  papers  of  our  great 
cities.  The  vice  traffic  plans  to  trap  the  girls  of  our  suburbs 
and  of  our  country  villages.  Just  as  the  family  has  its 
skeleton  in  the  closet,  so  every  community  suffers  from  these 
great  evils.  The  suburb  drives  out  the  licensed  liquor  traffic, 
but  the  blind  tiger  persists.  It  refuses  to  permit  vice,  but  it 
fails  .to  organize  recreation  and  the  evening  trains  to  the  city 
are  crowded  with  young  people.  A  city  mission  that  gets 
large  support  from  a  city  suburb  secretly  rescued  from  a 
house  of  ill-fame  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  homes  of  that  very 
suburb.  The  country  community  has  its  derelicts  who  come 
home,  stricken  by  the  city  vices,  to  spread  contamination  and 
to  die  in  its  midst. 

The  forces  of  evil  are  organized  for  international  business 
and  push  their  wares  to  the  limits  of  adventuresome  profit 
seeking.  The  underworld  is  worldwide.  Even  in  the  Orient 
the  missionaries  are  having  to  face  the  organization  of  vice 

142 


OVERTHROWING  COMMON  ENEMIES      [X-s] 

from  the  Western  world.  In  addition  to  having  to  fight 
the  sins  of  heathen  communities  and  corruption  in  native 
government,  they  must  now  meet  the  massed  power  of 
Western  finance  invested  for  the  destruction  of  the  bodies 
and  the  souls  of  men.  The  opium  dens  of  the  foreign 
section  of  Shanghai,  administered  by  the  representatives  of 
Western  nations,  were  allowed  to  continue  their  nefarious 
traffic  for  months  after  the  Chinese  officials  in  the  native  sec- 
tion of  Shanghai  had  abolished  it.  The  excuse  was  the  one  so 
familiar  in  America — the  municipal  administration  needed  the 
money.  An  English  doctor  in  Africa  does  his  utmost  to  stop 
the  ravages  of  drink  and  lust  among  the  native  peoples  of  his 
territory,  and  continually  reads  in  the  shipping  news  of  the 
clearance  of  big  cargoes  of  rum  for  Africa  from  the  ports  of 
England  and  the  United  States.  How  shall  the  forces  of  right- 
eousness be  made  as  effective  on  a  world-wide  scale  as  the 
forces  of  evil? 

Ill 

Underneath  all  the  organized  activities  of  evil  is  the  drive 
of  the  profit  motive.  Devine  says:  "I  have  yet  to  find  the 
reform  movement  or  the  philanthropic  undertaking  which 
does  not  at  some  point  or  other  see  its  efforts  thwarted  by 
some  organized  opposition  which  has  its  root  in  pecuniary 
profit — unholy,  obviously  illegal  profit,  or,  it  may  be,  quite  as 
often  outwardly  respectable  profit,  sanctioned  by  law,  and  shar- 
ing, it  may  be,  with  church  and  philanthropy,  but  none  the 
less  at  bottom  anti-social,  injurious  to  health  or  morals,  worthy 
to  be  outlawed  as  soon  as  its  evil,  nature  is  understood." 
Ross  says :  "All  the  giant  sins  of  our  time  are  connected  with 
money  making."  A  civic  leader  determined  to  find  out  where 
the  notorious  alderman,  whose  name  is  a  by-word  the  country 
over,  was  securing  his  funds.  Unexpectedly  he  found  that 
the  leading  contributor  was  the  most  powerful  and  respected 
merchant  in  the  city.  Why  was  such  a  man  interested  in 
keeping  in  the  Council  the  leader  of  the  underworld?  The 
answer  was,  his  investments  in  traction  interests. 

143 


[X-s]        CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

The  most  powerful  enemy  of  community  life  is  predatory 
business — business  that  seeks  to  make  profit  out  of  the  whole 
community,  regardless  of  the  results  to  the  community  life. 
It  has  its  standards  of  ethics  for  personal  dealings,  but  it  has 
no  ethics  when  it  deals  with  the  community  as  a  whole.  The 
real  anarchy  in  our  communities  is  the  destruction  of  their 
life  by  the  successful  plunderers.  The  bomb  thrower  gets 
caught  and  punished.  Nobody  wants  to  follow  him,  but 
the  man  who  can  make  a  fortune  by  evading  the  law  or 
destroying  community  rights,  and  "gets  by,"  sets  a  false 
standard  of  success.  What  is  the  reason  that  business  is  so 
often  carried  to  the  point  of  community  destruction?  It  is 
because  so  many  men  put  profit  above  all  other  values.  For 
the  sake  of  profit  men  have  locked  the  doors  of  their  factories 
and  their  workers  have  burned  to  a  crisp ;  they  have  adulter- 
ated the  food  that  children  eat  and  the  medicines  that  babies 
take;  they  have  sent  boats  to  sea  overloaded,  undermanned, 
and  without  safety  appliances;  they  have  double-crossed  child- 
labor  and  safety-first  legislation;  they  have  broken  down  the 
health,  the  strength,  and  the  morals  of  the  community  in 
their  factories  and  mines. 

Whoever  enters  the  campaign  against  Mammon  must  see 
its  beginning  and  its  ending.  It  will  begin  in  his  own  life 
with  his  personal  interests  and  affiliations.  How  these  blind 
and  paralyze  men's  courage!  It  is  hard  to  see  the  justice  of 
labor's  demands  when  one's  own  income  comes  from  indus- 
trial securities.  College  professors  who  work  during  vaca- 
tions on  high  salaries  for  public  service  corporations  adopt  a 
scale  of  living  that  makes  it  hard  for  them  to  adjust  them- 
selves to  the  sterner  demands  of  academic  life.  Does  this 
help  them  to  see  injustice  in  the  relations  of  those  corporations 
to  the  community?  The  church  that  is  receiving  large  gifts 
for  education  and  missions  from  big  business  is  not  likely  to 
see  clearly  all  the  relations  of  big  business  to  the  common 
welfare.  What  a  sign  of  hope  it  is  to  learn  of  two  millionaires 
with  great  investments  in  Mexico,  declaring  that  they  wished 
no  man's  blood  shed  to  save  their  dollars !     Another  sign  of 

144 


OVERTHROWIXG  COMMON  EXEMIES      [X-s] 

Christian  progress  is  the  fact  that  the  conscience  of  youth  is 
being  quickened  today.  The  college  girl  who  goes  back  to  her 
home  community  and  finds  herself  compelled  to  support  the 
strikers  in  her  own  father's  establishment  understands  what 
Jesus  meant  by  saying,  "He  that  loveth  father  and  mother 
more  than  me  is  not  worthy  of  me." 

A  young  college  graduate  who  had  risen  rapidly  as  a 
reporter  on  a  New  York  daily  w^as  covering  the  news  from 
the  great  anthracite  coal  strike.  He  was  instructed  by  the 
owner,  a  man  high  in  government  circles,  under  no  circum- 
stances to  allow  the  news  to  be  favorable  to  the  strikers.  He 
promptly  threw  down  his  pencil  and  walked  out — never  to 
return.  He  won  spiritual  freedom  at  the  cost  of  financial 
success,  and  today  he  is  a  writer  of  telling  power.  Two  young 
Chinese  were  recently  won  to  Christianity  through  the  superior 
endurance  of  native  Christians  in  the  tasks  developed  by  their 
social  study  class  in  Peking.  They  both  left  positions  in 
the  customs  service  for  Christian  social  work  at  one-fourth 
their  former  salaries.  Only  he  can  lead  in  the  fight  against 
Mammon  who  has  fought  and  won  the  battle  in  his  own  life; 
who  has  learned  like  Jesus  to  live  in  all  simplicity.  That 
man  has  no  price ;  he  cannot  be  bought  directly  or  indirectly. 
He  is  a  baffling  puzzle  to  those  who  believe  in  the  power  of 
^Mammon. 

IV 

Since  the  majority  of  people  live  their  lives  practically  on 
the  basis  of  the  belief  that  business  comes  first,  he  who  chal- 
lenges this  is  facing  the  sin  at  the  heart  of  the  community. 
The  Christian  is  compelled  to  question  the  established  habits 
and  customs  of  community  life,  and  likewise  its  moods 
and  tempers.  Time  and  again  the  hardest  fight  the  leaders  of 
the  community  have  is  with  the  community's  own  evil  spirit. 
On  occasion  it  gives  itself  over  to  passion  and  prejudice;  it 
follows  low  ideals;  it  becomes  its  own  worst  enemy.  Bent 
on  evil,  it  goes  to  its  own  destruction.  Then  some  lonely 
spirits  must  stand  out  against  it.     So  Garrison  had  to  stand 

145 


[X-s]        CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

out  against  slavery;  so  men  in  England  stood  out  against  the 
Boer  War;  so  sometimes  men  and  women  in  America  face 
the   lynching   mob. 

In  every  community  someone  has  to  take  the  lead — someone 
who  can  bear  no  longer  the  insolence  of  the  common  enemy. 
There  is  never  any  substitute  for  the  moral  passion  of  him  who 
will  not  abide  conditions  of  evil — often  some  fiery-hearted 
radical  with  an  Irish  soul  or  some  quiet  citizen  behind  the 
scenes  short  on  words  but  long  on  deeds !  No  expert  can  be 
brought  in  from  anywhere  to  do  their  work.  Agitation,  edu- 
cation, personal  persuasion,  the  ballot,  law  enforcement,  pre- 
ventive measures — the  methods  are  the  same  anywhere  in 
the  world.  Publicity  too,  is  indispensable.  The  community 
must  not  be  afraid  of  the  facts ;  it  must  look  them  in  the  face. 
Things  which  are  not  too  bad  to  exist  are  not  too  bad  to  be 
known.  The  evils  of  the  underworld  cannot  live  in  the  day- 
light. Drag  them  out  where  the  people  can  see  them,  and  they 
perish  in  the  sun.  There  can  be  no  compromise  with  these 
forms  of  evil.  Repression  is  the  immediate  method.  Aboli- 
tion is  the  goal.  They  are  like  slavery,  things  which  Chris- 
tianity cannot  tolerate.  But  a  program  of  repression  alone 
will  not  avail — the  vacuum  that  is  left  by  abolition  must  be 
filled.  There  then  comes  in  the  whole  constructive  program 
of  community  action. 

Suggestions  for  Discussion  and  Action 

I.  Locating  the  Common  Enemies 

What  are  the  worst  foes  of  our  community  life? 

II.  The  Tactics  of  a  Common  Enemy 

Let  us  select  one  of  these  enemies,  such  as  the  local  liquor 
traffic,  as  typical  and  study  what  is  necessary  to  fight  it;  any 
enemy  of  community  life  can  be  similarly  studied. 
I.    What  is  the  strength  of  this  enemy? 

a.     What  are  its  local  financial  resources?      What  aid 
can  we  call  in  from  without? 
146 


OVERTHROWING  COMMON  ENEMIES     [X-s] 

b.  What  are  its  political  connections?     What  strong 

men  and  business  interests  support  it  tacitly  or 
openly  ?  How  large  a  percentage  of  the  voters 
does  it  control?     How  strong  is  its  leadership? 

c.  W^hat  channels  of  publicity  does  it  command? 
2.     What  are  the  methods  of  defence  and  attack? 

a.  In  what  ways  has  money  been  used  ? 

b.  How    have    its    forces    tried    to    shape    political 

action? 

c.  By  what  methods  has  it  sought  to  influence  public 


opmion 


3.  What  is  its  effect  in  the  community? 

a.  W^hat  are  its  most  pernicious  influences? 

b.  How  can  we  trace  its  results  in  the  families  which 

we  know? 

c.  How  far  does  it  consider  human  welfare  as  com- 

pared with  increased  profits? 

d.  What    are    its    results    in    poverty,    sickness,    and 

crime? 

4.  Similarly  select  a  community  enemy  in  mission  lands, 
such  as  opium  or  gambling. 

a.  How    fully    is    it    entrenched    in    financial,    social, 

and  governmental  relations? 

b.  What  is  being  done  to  defeat  it? 

HI.     Methods  of  Fighting  the  Common  Enemy 

1.  How  do  the  resources  of  its  opponents  compare  with 
those  of  its  supporters?    Why  has  the  fight  been  so  hard? 

2.  What  have  been  the  most  successful  methods  of  over- 
coming this  enemy?  To  what  extent  do  the  opponents  use 
the  same  methods  as  the  supporters? 

3.  What  methods  have  been  most  effective  in  shaping 
public  opinion? 

IV.    A  Heroic  Fight 

If  a  Christian  really  takes  up  this  fight  in  his  com- 
munity, what  will  he  face?    Why  do  so  many  give  it  up? 

147 


CHAPTER   XI 

MAKING  THE  CHURCH  CHRISTIAN 

When  Jesus  sought  to  make  the  community  religious,  he 
went  first  to  the  house  of  rehgion.  Where  else  shall  his  fol- 
lowers go  when  bent  upon  his  purpose?  Like  all  institutions, 
it  shows  the  massed  weaknesses  of  human  nature,  but  when 
the  final  balance  is  struck,  what  other  institution  has  ever 
poured  so  many  and  so  great  benefits  into  human  society? 

The  social  analysis  that  concludes  to  "scrap"  the  Church  has 
failed  to  weigh  all  the  facts.  In  any  community,  when  the 
Church  becomes  impotent,  it  is  a  social  tragedy.  The  Church 
continually  calls  the  community  to  righteousness  and  good- 
will; it  hallows  marriage  and  glorifies  childhood;  it  imparts 
motive  and  instruction  for  social  living;  it  provides  funds  and 
leaders  for  social  reform;  it  generates  faith  and  courage  to 
assault  the  citadels  of  social  wrong;  it  carries  all  the  benefits 
of  civilization  to  the  backward  peoples.  It  often  rejects  the 
prophets,  but  it  first  nourished  them.  The  beginnings  of  or- 
ganized philanthropy  and  education;  the  conscience  that  abol- 
ished slavery  and  now  outlaws  alcohol  and  challenges  eco- 
nomic injustice;  the  spirit  that  achieved  political  equality  and 
now  seeks  industrial  democracy — these  are  the  contributions  of 
the  Church  to  modern  social  progress. 

Of  all  the  tools  that  must  be  used  to  make  the  Common- 
wealth of  God,  organized  religion  is  the  most  indispensable. 

Daily  Meditations 
First  Day  :  Meeting  God  on  the  Jericho  Road 

A   certain   man   was   going   down    from   Jerusalem 

to    Jericho;    and   he    fell   among    robbers,    who    both 

stripped  him  and  beat  him,  and  departed,  leaving  him 

half  dead.    And  by  chance  a  certain  priest  was  going 

148 


MAKING  THE  CHURCH  CHRISTIAN      [XI-2] 

down  that  way :  and  when  he  saw  him,  he  passed 
by  on  the  other  side.  And  in  like  manner  a  Levite 
also,  when  he  came  to  the  place,  and  saw  him,  passed 
by  on  the  other  side.  But  a  certain  Samaritan,  as  he 
journeyed,  came  where  he  was:  and  when  he  saw  him, 
he  was  moved  with  compassion,  and  came  to  him,  and 
bound  up  his  wounds. — Luke  10:  30-34. 

Very  deliberately  Jesus  brings  into  the  story  this  despised 
member  of  an  alien  race,  condemned  because  his  religion  was 
corrupt,  and  says  that  he  is  more  religious  than  the  chosen 
officers  of  worship  of  the  chosen  people.  The  terrible  fail- 
ure of  the  priest  and  the  Levite  will  bear  reflection.  The 
pathos  of  the  story  is,  they  thought  they  were  doing  the  best 
they  could.  They  were  doubtless  thinking  about  the  religious 
work  that  had  engrossed  their  attention  at  Jerusalem ;  but  they 
were  neglecting  the  more  religious  human  need  by  the  roadside. 
The  tragedy  is  that  they  failed  that  day  to  meet  God  in  the 
presence  of  human  suffering  upon  the  Jericho  road.  Are 
not  those  who  attempt  to  confine  religious  experience  to 
"spiritual  matters"  in  danger  of  finding  themselves  without 
any  real  religious  experience  at  all? 

Second  Day:  What  Doth  Jehovah  Require? 

When  ye  come  to  appear  before  me,  who  hath 
required  this  at  your  hand,  to  trample  my  courts? 
Bring  no  more  vain  oblations;  incense  is  an  abomina- 
tion unto  me ;  new  moon  and  sabbath,  the  calling  of 
assemblies, — I  cannot  away  with  iniquity  and  the 
solemn  meeting.  Your  new  moons  and  your  appointed 
feasts  my  soul  hateth ;  they  are  a  trouble  unto  me ;  I 
am  weary  of  bearing  them.  And  when  ye  spread  forth 
your  hands,  I  will  hide  mine  eyes  from  you;  yea, 
when  ye  make  many  prayers,  I  will  not  hear :  your 
hands  are  fiill  of  blood.  Wash  you,  make  you  clean; 
put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings  from  before  mine 
eyes;  cease  to  do  evil;  learn  to  do  well;  seek  justice, 
relieve  the  oppressed,  judge  the  fatherless,  plead  for 
the  widow. — Isa.  i  :  12-17. 

149 


[XI-3]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

He  hath  showed  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good;  and 
what  doth  Jehovah  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly, 
and  to  love  kindness,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy 
God?— Micah  6:  8. 

By  what  dark  paths  have  men  sought  to  find  God !  In 
what  strange  ways  have  they  endeavored  to  please  him!  They 
have  sacrificed  their  children  and  have  mutilated  their  own 
bodies,  they  have  tried  ascetic  fastings  and  saintly  ritual, 
they  have  counted  the  beads  and  simulated  frenzies  of  emo- 
tion!  It  is  one  of  the  glories  of  the  Hebrew  prophets  that 
they  taught  the  world  the  true  nature  of  worship.  They 
declared  that  God  would  not  be  satisfied  with  ritual  if 
brotherhood  were  lacking.  They  put  religion  into  the  world 
of  action  and  did  not  let  it  rest  in  passive  virtues.  Will  our 
worship  stand  the  test  of  Isaiah?  Are  there  any  aspects 
of  our  community  life,  any  living  or  working  conditions,  that 
make  our  formal  worship  a  mockery  before  God?  Would 
a  solemn  act  of  social  penitence  for  the  actual  conditions  in 
our  town  help  our  church  to  do  its  full  duty? 

Do  the  hymns  and  prayers  in  the  service  of  worship  in  our 
church  promote  the  actual  realization  of  brotherhood?  What 
effect  would  it  have  upon  the  spirituality  of  our  church  if  the 
great  community  issues  were  openly  discussed  in  Sunday 
school,  in  prayer  meeting,  or  in  a  special  open  forum ;  if  we 
were  all  required  to  report  regularly  concerning  our  contribu- 
tion to  community  progress? 

Third  Day  :  First  Things  First 

Then  spake  Jesus  to  the  multitudes  and  to  his  dis- 
ciples, saying.  The  scribes  and  the  Pharisees  sit  on 
Moses'  seat :  all  things  therefore  whatsoever  they  bid 
you,  these  do  and  observe:  but  do  not  ye  after  their 
works ;  for  they  say,  and  do  not.  Yea,  they  bind  heavy 
burdens  and  grievous  to  be  borne,  and  lay  them  on 
men's  shoulders;  but  they  themselves  will  not  move 
them  with  their  finger. — Matt.  23:  1-4. 

Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites ! 
for  ye  tithe  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,   and  have 

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MAKING  THE  CHURCH  CHRISTIAN      [XI-4] 

.  left  undone  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  justice, 
and  mercy,  and  faith :  but  these  ye  ought  to  have  done,' 
and  not  to  have  left  the  other  undone.— Matt.  23:  23. 

One  of  the  marvels  of  the  history  of  religion  is  the  way 
in  which  its  course  has  been  diverted  into  activities  of 
secondary  importance— theological  discussion,  forms  and  cere- 
monies, tithing,  automatic  church  attendance.  Into  the  pro- 
tection and  promotion  of  such  things  has  gone  much  of  the 
passion  and  power  that  might  have  been  used  to  bring  the 
world  to  Christ.  What  a  waste  of  spiritual  energies!  Are 
there  not  still  those  among  us  who  satisfy  their  religious  in- 
stincts with  the  saying  of  prayers  and  formal  church  attend- 
ance, and  yet  oppose  the  great  measures  of  humanitarian  prog- 
ress in  our  communities?  Is  your  religious  life  occupied 
with  secondary  or  primary  interests? 

Fourth  Day:  Paradoxes  of  the  Orthodox 

Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites! 
for  ye  build  the  sepulchres  of  the  prophets,  and 
garnish  the  tombs  of  the  righteous,  and  say,  If  we  had 
been  in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  we  should  not  have 
been  partakers  with  them  in  the  blood  of  the  prophets. 
Wherefore  ye  witness  to  yourselves,  that  ye  are  sons 
of  them  that  slew  the  prophets.  Fill  ye  up  then  the 
measure  of  your  fathers.  Ye  serpents,  ye  oflfspring  of 
vipers,  how  shall  ye  escape  the  judgment  of  hell? 
Therefore,  behold,  I  send  unto  you  prophets,  and  wise 
men,  and  scribes:  some  of  them  shall  ye  kill  and  cru- 
cify; and  some  of  them  shall  ye  scourge  in  your  syn- 
agogues, and  persecute  from  city  to  city:  that  upon 
you  may  come  all  the  righteous  blood  shed  on  the 
earth,  from  the  blood  of  Abel  the  righteous  unto 
the  blood  of  Zachariah  son  of  Barachiah,  whom  ye 
slew  between  the  sanctuary  and  the  altar.— Matt.  2^: 
29-35. 

This  is  not  ancient  history.  How  tragically  often  have  the 
churches  proved  traitor  to  Jesus!  It  is  the  great  apostasy 
when  any  church  turns  aside  from  his  teachings  and  perse- 


[XI-5]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

cutes  those  who  would  call  it  back  to  him.  Time  and 
again  the  prophets  are  driven  outside.  Wycliffe  was  hunted 
and  tried;  Luther  was  excommunicated;  Wesley  was  driven 
to  preach  on  the  gravestones  and  in  the  street;  Roger 
Williams  had  to  flee  to  another  colony  to  secure  liberty; 
William  Booth  was  compelled  to  go  outside  to  the  streets  and 
the  big  bass  drum.  Shall  we,  too,  drive  out  the  prophets  of 
fearless  speech? 

Who  can  explain  this  paradox  of  human  nature?  In  the 
name  of  truth  men  deny  the  truth.  In  the  attempt  to  estab- 
lish righteousness,  they  violate  righteousness.  Is  it  the  power 
of  institutions  over  the  human  spirit? 

No  group  of  men  is  exempt  from  this  weakness.  Science 
boasts  of  its  openness  of  mind,  and  yet  at  times  scientific  men 
show  a  bigotry  surpassing  that  of  ignorance.  Radicals  boast 
of  their  liberty  and  yet  develop  their  shibboleths  until  there 
is  no  orthodoxy  so  intolerant  as  the  orthodoxy  of  radicalism. 
How  can  we  make  it  evident  that  no  institution,  not  even  the 
Church,  is  good  enough  to  hold  the  minds  and  consciences  of 
men  in  bondage? 

Fifth  Day  :  Democracy  in  Church 

My  brethren,  hold  not  the  faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Lord  of  glory,  with  respect  of  persons.  For 
if  there  come  into  your  synagogue  a  man  with  a  gold 
ring,  in  fine  clothing,  and  there  come  in  also  a  poor 
man  in  vile  clothing;  and  ye  have  regard  to  him  that 
weareth  the  fine  clothing,  and  say.  Sit  thou  here  in  a 
good  place;  and  ye  say  to  the  poor  man.  Stand  thou 
there,  or  sit  under  my  footstool;  do  ye  not  make  dis- 
tinctions among  yourselves,  and  become  judges  with 
evil  thoughts? — James  2:  1-4. 

A  city  minister  gathered  the  people  from  the  tenements  and 
boarding  houses  into  the  Sunday  evening  service.  They  had 
to  sit  in  the  galleries  because  the  pew  holders  paid  for  the 
seats  below.  At  a  meeting  of  the  church  officials  someone 
said :  "We  don't  want  those  people ;  they  don't  pay  anything 

152 


MAKING  THE  CHURCH  CHRISTIAN      [XI-6] 

towards  the  church."  To  them  the  church  was  a  closed  cor- 
poration instead  of  the  democratic  fellowship  of  simpler 
communities.  In  another  city  a  wealthy  church  was  not  satis- 
fied with  a  mission,  to  give  religion  by  absent  treatment  to 
the  nearby  foreign  population.  Instead  they  welcomed  these 
foreign  neighbors  to  social  and  religious  fellowship  in  the 
regular  activities  of  their  church. 

Jesus  went  in  and  out  among  the  homes  of  rich  and  poor 
alike.  There  was  no  barrier  set  up  between  classes  that  he 
did  not  break  through.  When  his  disciples  went  out  into  the 
world  they  had  the  same  inclusive  vision.  Peter  came  to  see 
that  nothing  was  common  or  unclean.  Paul  the  Pharisee  came 
to  see  that  there  must  be  neither  Greek  nor  barbarian,  Jew 
nor  Gentile.  He  called  a  runaway  slave  "my  very  heart." 
Whenever  the  Gospel  touches  the  caste  system  of  the  Orient, 
it  breaks  it  down.  How  can  it  do  the  same  thing  to  class 
cleavage  in  this  country  ? 

Sixth  Day:  Can  the  Church  Save  Itself f 

Then  are  there  crucified  with  him  two  robbers,  one 
on  the  right  hand  and  one  on  the  left.  And  they  that 
passed  by  railed  on  him,  wagging  their  heads,  and 
saying.  Thou  that  destroyest  the  temple,  and  buildest 
it  in  three  days,  save  thyself :  if  thou  art  the  Son  of 
God,  come  down  from  the  cross.  In  like  manner  also 
the  chief  priests  mocking  him  with  the  scribes  and 
elders,  said.  He  saved  others ;  himself  he  cannot  save. 
He  is  the  King  of  Israel;  let  him  now  come  down 
from  the  cross,  and  we  will  believe  on  him.  He 
trusteth  on  God;  let  him  deliver  him  now,  if  he  de- 
sireth  him :  for  he  said,  I  am  the  Son  of  God.  And  the 
robbers  also  that  were  crucified  with  him  cast  upon 
him  the  same  reproach. — Matt.  27 :  38-44. 

"He  saved  others;  himself  he  cannot  save."  It  was  the 
biting  truth,  though  those  who  uttered  it  knew  not  what  they 
said.  If  he  had  thought  of  saving  himself  he  could  not  have 
saved  others,  nor  in  the  end  have  saved  even  himself.  The 
inventor    forgets    even    the    needs    of    his    own    body    in    his 

153 


[XI-7]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

passionate  search.  Jesus  taught  that  self-preservation  Is  not 
the  first  law  of  nature,  but  that  others'  preservation  is  after 
all  the  very  essence  of  self-preservation.  Is  this  truth  less 
valid  for  the  Church  than  for  the  individual?  Has  the  Church 
any  right  to  be  more  careful  of  the  life  of  Jesus  embodied  in 
its  institutions  than  Jesus  was  careful  of  himself?  How 
can  the  Church  save  itself? 

Seventh  Day  :  The  Source  of  Cooperative  Power 

And  he  came  to  Nazareth,  where  he  had  been 
brought  up :  and  he  entered,  as  his  custom  was,  into 
the  synagogue  on  the  sabbath  day,  and  stood  up  to 
read. — Luke  4 :    16. 

Why  did  Jesus  go  to  the  synagogue  as  a  regular  custom? 
His  personal  devotions  he  pursued  upon  the  mountain  top. 
Is  it  enough,  therefore,  for  us  to  find  our  contacts  with  God 
apart  from  the  crowd?  The  Master  may  have  had  little  need 
of  the  fellowship  of  the  common  meeting,  yet  he  had  a  deep 
respect  for  the  needs  of  others.  And  in  it  there  were  values 
for  him  as  well  as  for  them.  There  was  the  give  and  take  of 
comradeship,  the  revelation  of  human  needs  and  aspirations. 
Here  he  saw  humanity  at  its  best,  and  understood  wherein 
it  was  missing  the  way,  even  while  trying  to  follow  its  ideals. 

Yet  what  Jesus  received  from  the  synagogue  came  because 
he  went  there  primarily  to  give.  He  went  to  give  the  truth 
to  the  people  in  the  house  of  truth.  If  the  Church  is  ineffec- 
tive, how  can  those  who  see  its  ineffectiveness  help  to  improve 
it? 

Study  for  the  Week 

If  the  social  principles  of  Jesus  are  ever  to  dominate  com- 
munity life  they  must  be  clearly  and  fully  exemplified  by  the 
social  organization  which  is  teaching  them.  All  over  the  world 
the  people  outside  the  churches  are  increasingly  looking  to 
them  for  community  leadership.  It  is  evidence  of  the  permea- 
tion of  the  spirit  of  Jesus  through  modern  society;  his  test 

154 


.MAKING  THE  CHURCH  CHRISTIAN      [XI-s] 

of  religion  was  social  efficiency.  The  churches  must  stand 
before  this  bar  of  judgment.  How  can  the  world  be  Christian- 
ized except  the  churches  be  completely  Christian? 


I 

In  the  beginning  the  Gospel  made  not  a  church,  but  a  com- 
munity. That  community  life  spread  from  Jerusalem,  creat- 
ing others  like  it  in  many  cities.  They  were  separate  from 
the  heathen  community  in  morals  and  ideals.  This  separation 
was  the  stern  insistence,  of  their  leaders.  It  became  first  the 
mockery  and  finally  the  admiration  of  the  Roman  world. 
There  is  still  a  sharp  contrast  betw^een  the  community  ideal 
of  Christianity  and  the  practice  of  civiHzation.  Is  there  a 
like  difference  between  the  life  of  the  church  group  and  other 
people?  What  are  the  unchristian  conditions  in  modern  com- 
munity life  with  which  Christians  are  identified?  Are  they 
challenging  and  arousing  the  conscience  of  the  community? 
Are  they  "odd,"  as  were  the  men  who  first  began  to  talk 
against  slavery  or  the  women  who  first  prayed  against  the 
liquor  traffic?  Are  they  conforming  to  the  world  or  trans- 
forming it? 

This  is  the  fundamental  problem  facing  the  Church  in  mis- 
sion lands.  It  must  live  in  the  midst  of  a  non-Christian  civil- 
ization. Its  new  members  have  no  background  of  Christian 
training.  It  is  a  continual  fight  for  them  to  keep  free  from 
heathen  practices.  This  makes  essential  requirements  for 
church  membership  so  strict  that  many  in  America  could  not 
attain  to  them. 

The  influence  of  church  members  as  employers,  in  the  pro- 
fessions, as  leaders  of  civic  life,  is  either  a  witness  to  Chris- 
tianity or  a  denial  of  it.  A  man  who  hadn't  been  to  church  for 
twenty-two  years  was  the  partner  in  business  of  a  prominent 
church  member.  The  non-church  member  insisted  on  paying 
the  girls  in  the  factory  more  wages.  The  church  member 
objected  because  it  interfered  with  profit.  He  told  his  partner, 
''You  will  never  be  a  money-maker."     Then  he  began  to  talk 

155 


[XI-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

in  another  realm.  He  expressed  his  desire  that  the  partner 
should  "get  religion"  and  join  his  church.  Is  there  enough  of 
this  sort  of  thing  to  justify  the  saying  of  a  prominent  states- 
man that  he  could  be  a  Christian  if  it  were  not  for  the 
churches,  or  was  he  unfair?  Of  course,  most  of  the  leaders 
of  organized  evil  hate  the  churches  as  they  hate  death;  many 
of  the  worst  exploiters  of  the  poor  shun  them  as  they  shun 
smallpox.  How  can  the  Church  reach  these  social  sinners  with 
the  message  of  Jesus,  if  any  of  its  members  have  part  or  lot 
in  their  practices? 

II 

A  social  test  of  the  churches  is  whether  they  exist  for  them- 
selves or  for  all  the  people.  "I  changed  my  church  home," 
said  an  intelligent  woman,  "because  Dr.  So-and-so  is  such 
a  comfortable  preacher."  The  church  a  rest-house  on  the 
road  of  life !  To  give  esthetic  satisfaction  to  its  rriembers  ! 
To  become  a  spiritual  culture  club  for  a  selected  few!  'T 
didn't  like  that  sermon,"  said  a  wealthy  parishioner  to  his 
democratic  minister.  "That's  too  bad,"  was  the  reply,  "if  you 
keep  on  coming  there  will  doubtless  be  a  great  many  more 
you  won't  like." 

Like  the  Master,  the  churches  must  serve  "all  sorts  and  con- 
ditions of  men."  The  modern  community  is  suffering  from 
class  cleavage,  and  one  peril  facing  the  churches  is  that  they 
will  come  to  be  identified  with  a  single  class  or  economic 
group— that  they  will  fail  to  get  the  truth  before  all  the  people. 
A  church  official  considered  it  highly  perilous  because  I.  W.  W. 
leaders  were  invited  to  explain  the  purposes  and  philosophy 
of  their  organization  to  an  adult  Bible  class.  But  if  the  day 
has  come  when  the  churches  are  not  willing  to  hear  the  needs 
and  ideals  of  all  groups  of  people,  the  day  is  near  when  they 
will  minister  to  but  a  section  of  the  people. 

The  glory  of  the  cathedral  worship  was  that  rich  and  poor 
knelt  together,  but  outside  the  cathedral  door  there  was  little 
community  life  between  these  groups.  The  modern  church 
must  share  not  simply  worship,  but  all  the  fellowships  of  life. 

IS6 


MAKING  THE  CHURCH  CHRISTIAN      [XI-s] 

Its  cathedral  is  the  whole  community.  Just  as  the  leaders  of 
the  Church  in  the  Orient  have  refused  to  recognize  ancient 
class  cleavages,  and  have  allied  themselves  with  outcaste 
peoples,  so  here  it  has  the  opportunity  of  bringing  rich  and 
poor,  the  handicapped  and  the  highly  trained,  into  such  demo- 
cratic fellowships  as  may  weld  them  in  the  common  desire  to 
eliminate  the  economic  injustice  which  makes  and  sustains 
class  barriers.     By  what  methods  can  this  be  done? 

Ill 

A  church  must  serve  all  community  needs.  Before  the 
world  will  accept  Jesus'  principle  of  leadership  through  serv- 
ice, the  churches  must  be  wholly  dominated  by  it.  Jesus  met 
all  varieties. of  need  that  came  under  his  observation,  and  his 
Church  has  been  an  experimental  workshop  in  which  many 
great  agencies  for  community  betterment,  like  charity  and  edu- 
cation, have  been  developed.  It  has  now  passed  most  of  these 
over  to  community  administration,  but  its  task- of  pioneering 
is  not  done.  The  missionary  is  a  pioneer  in  community  prog- 
ress. The  churches  are  now  developing  programs  adapted  to 
the  particular  needs  of  their  type  of  community.  An  old-estab- 
lished church  in  a  downtown  city  district  faced  an  entire 
change  of  constituency.  Formerly  an  atcclusive  residential 
region,  the  neighborhood  has  received  a  large  boarding-house 
and  student  population,  and  also  a  colony  of  Italians.  With 
the  same  church  plant,  the  program  has  been  so  adapted  as 
to  meet  the  new  conditions  and  problems.  Many  a  church  in 
city  and  country  is  recognizing  its  distinctive  field  and  meet- 
ing its  opportunity.  Courageous  pioneering  of  this  sort  will 
enable  any  church  to  reach  its  largest  usefulness.  The  Church 
has  done  such  pioneering  in  every  land.  Originating  in  the 
East,  it  has  adapted  itself  to  Western  needs.  The  Church  now 
replanted  in  the  East  under  missionary  leadership  is  demon- 
strating again  its  power  of  adaptation  to  environment. 

The  Church  has  never  been  content  to  stop  with  community 
service  under  its  own  auspices.     It  sends  its  members  out  to 

157 


[XI-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

work  in  every  type  of  community  enterprise.  It  affiliates  with 
all  organizations  that  are  working  for  community  betterment, 
but  at  the  same  time  it  challenges  them  to  seek  the  ideal  of 
social  transformation.  In  Chuchow,  Anhui,  the  church  leaders 
called  the  leaders  of  the  community,  the  gentry,  officials,  and 
merchants  of  their  own  city  into  council  for  the  welfare  of 
their  town.  The  result  has  been  a  long  list  of  good-roads 
and  anti-tuberculosis  campaigns.  The  officials  and  merchants 
and  gentry  of  Chuchow  no  longer  look  askance  at  the  Church, 
but  regard  it  as  a  center  of  inspiration,  of  love  and  good-will 
towards  men.  They  are  thus  brought  into  working  coopera- 
tion with  the  program  of  Jesus.  Community  needs  are  calling 
to  the  churches  all  over  the  world  to  put  the  evangel  into  sus- 
tained social  action. 

The  Church  is  the  spiritual  power  house  of  the  community. 
What  obligation  rests  upon  college  graduates  who  have 
received  this  new  vision  of  the  Church  to  help  realize  it  in 
the  practical  tasks  of  Christianizing  community  life?  How 
can  they  justify  themselves  before  God  and  man  if  they  evade 
this  responsibility? 

IV 

The  social  program  of  Jesus  calls  not  simply  for  deeds  of 
service,  but  for  social  reconstruction.  No  patronizing  phi- 
lanthropy will  satisfy  the  exacting  Christ.  He  raises  ques- 
tions that  test  government  and  industry  to  their  founda- 
tions. These  same  issues  now  confront  the  Church  as  an 
institution.  If  it  does  not  face  them  fearlessly  in  all  its  own 
relations,  how  can  it  lead  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  world 
life?  From  what  sources  do  the  Church  and  its  benevo- 
lent, educational,  and  missionary  enterprises  draw  support? 
Does  it  profit  indirectly  by  the  proceeds  of  unrighteous 
industry  and  finance?  These  are  the  questions  which  thought- 
ful men  both  in  and  outside  of  the  Church  insist  upon  asking, 
because  high  standards  have  been  set  by  the  teachings  of  Jesus. 
The  public  conscience,  quickened  by  his  principles,  brings  them 
back   home   to   the   Church    for   her   testing.     Is   the   Church 


MAKING  THE  CHURCH  CHRISTIAN      [XI-s] 

demonstrating  the  ethics  of  Jesus  as  purchaser,  employer, 
investor  ? 

The  Church,  through  her  many  agencies,  is  a  great  employer 
of  labor  directly  and  indirectly.  The  present  widespread 
economic  conflict  demands  that  the  relation  between  the 
employer  and  employe  be  brought  into  harmony  with  the 
principles  of  Jesus.  Is  the  Church  demonstrating  to  the  busi- 
ness world  vvhat  Jesus'  teachings  mean  in  industrial  relation- 
ships? 

When  a  religious  publishing  house  is  used  by  the  employers' 
association  of  its  city  to  force  the  nine-hour  day  upon  the 
workers  in  an  eight-hour  trade,  what  chance  does  Christianity 
have  to  influence  the  workers  in  that  occupation?  What  brings 
the  Church  to  such  a  pass?  The  determination  to  protect  its 
vested  interests,  or  the  failure  to  understand  its  stern  duty? 
To  what  extent  do  the  prevalent  salaries  of  ministers  repre- 
sent a  living  wage,  and  the  possibility  of  study  and  travel — 
for  the  results  of  which  the  minister  is  held  accountable? 

One  cause  of  much  of  our  industrial  inhumanity  and  conflict 
is  that  corporations  in  dealing  with  individuals  do  not  observe 
the  standards  that  obtain  in  dealings  between  man  and  man. 
The  Church,  as  a  corporate  body  dealing  with  the  persons  it 
employs,  is  obligated  to  pioneer  in  securing  the  relationships 
that  Jesus  requires.  Economic  justice  in  the  employment  rela- 
tions of  the  Church  cannot  be  established  without  some  cost. 
The  Church  is  calling  labor  and  capital  to  be  Christian,  and 
both  will  have  to  pay  a  heavy  price  to  do  it.  Can  the  Church 
expect  them  to  pay  the  price  if  she  does  not  pay  the  price 
herself? 

V 

The  Church  is  a  great  owner  of  property.  It  is  one  of  the 
big  business  enterprises  of  the  modern  world,  controlling  its 
millions.  The  old  world  is  now  in  a  gigantic  struggle 
between  classes,  nations,  and  races  for  control  of  the  economic 
means  of  subsistence.  It  makes  imperative  a  new  relationship 
between  persons  and  property.    Here  the  Church  must  set  the 

159 


[XI-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

example.  Once  the  Church  was  poor ;  but  it  became  rich. 
Before  long  there  came  the  striking  contrast  of  the  jeweled 
splendor  of  the  princes  of  the  Church  with  the  lowly  poverty 
of  Jesus.  Today  the  Church  has  its  rich  buildings  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  poverty-stricken  masses.  Many  of  its  people 
live  in  luxury.  It  holds  costly  banquets  to  raise  money  to 
spread  the  simple  Gospel.  When  the  Master  meets  it  today,  it 
is  in  the  position  of  the  rich  young  ruler.  How  shall  it  answer 
his  question? 

The  Church  is  surrounded  today  by  mighty  forces  in  the 
industrial  world,  some  of  them  ostensibly  friendly.  But  Chris- 
tianity has  never  yet  controlled  the  power  of  this  world.  It 
made  alliance  with  the  Roman  Empire,  but  it  never  spiritual- 
ized it.  Now  dominion  is  in  commerce,  industry,  and  finance. 
Will  the  Church  again  make  alliance  with  earthly  power  for 
the  sake  of  its  support,  or  will  it  boldly  undertake  the  diffi- 
cult task  of  spiritualizing  economic  life? 

Many  working  people  believe  that  the  Church  is  in  alliance 
with  predatory  wealth ;  that  its  money  is  red  with  the  life 
blood  of  underpaid  workers.  The  leaders  of  the  churches 
would  not  accept  money  with  a  string  to  it,  but  what  if  the 
string  is  invisible !  What  if  the  unconscious  influence  of  per- 
sonal friendship  clouds  the  vision?  What  if  respect  for  the 
ability  that  created  the  anti-social  wealth  dulls  the  power  of 
diagnosing  the  process  by.  which  it  has  been  acquired?  The 
corporate  Church  is  a  large  investor  of  wealth.  If  ordinary 
interest  involves  burdens  that  the  poor  cannot  bear,  what  effect 
have  the  vested  funds  of  the  Church  upon  its  facing  of  this 
question?  Is  it  able  freely  to  consider  whether  or  not  the 
property  system  is  pagan?  If  the  life  of  the  institution  is  in 
conflict  with  the  life  of  the  people,  what  then? 

VI 

This  is  the  ultimate  issue  for  the  Church.  Is  it  willing  to 
lose  its  life  if  need  be  in  behalf  of  Christianity?  Said  a  labor 
leader,  "We  expect  the  preacher  to  be  just  as  willing  to  lose 
his  job  for  a  principle  as  we  are  to  lose  ours  in  a  sympathetic 

1 60 


MAKING  THE  CHURCH  CHRISTIAN      [XI-s] 

strike."  Many  a  preacher  is  willing.  Is  the  Church  as  an  insti- 
tution ready  to  meet  the  same  demand? 

If  the  sources  of  the  Church's  income  are  in  any  measure 
derived  from  unjust  wealth,  so  that  they  limit  the  results  of  its 
self-sacrificing  service  in  the  mission  fields  or  hinder  the  free 
workings  of  its  conscience  in  the  industrial  problem,  it  will 
not  need  to  refuse  them.  A  faithful  search  for  economic 
righteousness  and  social  justice  will  cut  them  off  automatically. 
It  is  easy  to  praise  the  martyr«  of  old,  or  the  martyrs  of 
today  in  China  or  Armenia,  but  is  the  Church  at  home  willing 
to  become  a  martyr?  If  the  sacrifice  of  institutions  is  neces- 
sary to  lead  the  world  into  the  path  of  economic  righteousness 
and  social  justice  that  leads  to  the  Commonwealth  of  God,  is 
Christianity  ready  to  give  up  its  vast  equipment  and  go  out 
barehanded,  to  begin  all  over  again  with  nothing  but  a  message 
and  a  life  of  power? 

With  prophetic  longing,  great  groups  of  people  all  over  the 
earth,  who  are  bearing  bitter  burdens  because  the  economic  life 
of  the  world  is  not  yet  Christian,  are  looking  to  the  Church 
for  release  and  leadership.    Shall  they  be  disappointed? 

Suggestions  for  Discussion  and  Action 

I.    Present  Contributions  of  the  Church  to  Community  Life 

1.  Do  the  churches  of  our  communities  compete  or  co- 
operate? How  have  the  churches  adapted  their  program  to 
the  needs  of  their  community? 

2.  Trace  out  ways  in  which  the  local  churches  have  con- 
tributed to  the  development  and  stability  of  community  life 
through  individual  lives. 

3.  What  definite  pieces  of  community  service  have  been 
done  by  the  local  churches  during  the  past  year?  What 
funds  were  devoted  to  the  relief  of  suffering,  to  spreading 
Christianity  at  home  or  abroad? 

4.  What  are  the  practical  next  steps  in  your  church  and 
the  other  churches  of  your  community  for  increasing  the 
effectiveness  of  the  Church  in  its- community  task? 

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[XI-s]     CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

II.     Unfinished  Tasks  of  the  Church  in  the  Community  Life 
What  are  the  most  urgent  needs  of  our  churches  if  they 
are  to  lead  in  grappling  with  the  tasks  already  outlined? 

1.  Challenges  from  without 

a.  What   do   the   social   workers   want  the   churches 

to  do? 

b.  How    far    are    our    church    people    as    responsive 

to  the  call  of  .human  suffering  as  Jesus'  prin- 
ciple of  human  brotherhood  demands?  How 
far  will  this  take  the  Church  into  economic 
reconstruction? 

c.  What    do    the   workers    want    from    the    Church? 

What  opportunity  is  open  to  them  to  voice  their 
message? 

d.  What  needs  of  immigrants  are  not  being  met  by 

the  Church?  How  can  it  identify  itself  with 
them  and  still  maintain  the  separation  required 
for  purity  of  faith  and  prophetic  leadership? 

2.  Challenges  from  within 

a.  How  does  the  sin  of  provincialism  in  the  country 

churches  and  failure  to  think  of  Christianity  as 
a  world  gospel  compare  with  the  sin  of  class 
cleavage  in  city  churches  and  their  failure  to 
include  in  their  social  life  all  classes  of  society? 
To  what  degree  does  "other  worldliness"  turn 
the  blind  spot  to  "community  mindedness"? 

b.  What  social  attitudes  and  viewpoints  on  the  part 

of  church  members  are  already  socialized? 
What  most  need  changing? 

c.  Describe    ways    in    which    anti-social   attitudes   of 

church  members  hold  back  the  full  sense  of 
community   cooperation, 

d.  In  what  practical  ways  does  the  acceptance  of  gifts 

from    certain    sources    involve    silence    on    the 
issues  of  economic  justice?    How  can  the  Church 
Christianize  its  attitude  as  an  employer? 
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MAKING  THE  CHURCH  CHRISTIAN      [XI-s] 

3.     Challenges  from  abroad 

a.  In  what  ways  has  the  missionary  church   shown 

its  adaptability  to  environment? 

b.  What  is  it  doing  to  serve  particular  communities 

in  their  development? 

III.    Church  Leadership  for  the  Future 

Where  must  the  Church  look  for  fearless  leadership  in 
grappling  with  its  unfinished  tasks  and  undertaking  new 
measures  for  community  service?  Can  college  men  and 
women  do  their  largest  service  to  their  community  in  the 
Church  or  outside  of  it? 


163 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  GOD 

It  is  imperative  that  those  who  are  engaged  in  Christian- 
izing the  community  should  ever  have  before  them  a  vision 
of  the  goal.  For  lonely  Christian  workers  in  foreign  mission 
stations,  in  small  rural  communities,  in  submerged  city  sec- 
tions, it  is  a  great  tonic  to  feel  the  solidarity  of  the  cam- 
paign; to  sense  their  relationship  to  the  other  workers  the 
world  over;  to  see  the  common  objective.  What  is  it  that  we 
really  want  to  do  in  the  community — to  carry  out  a  mere 
opportunist  program,  or  to  work  for  thorough  reconstruction? 
Are  we  engaged  in  tinkering  the  machinery?  Is  it  because 
we  cannot  be  offended  with  the  sights  and  sounds  and^  smells 
of  misery  that  we  clean  up  community  conditions ;  because 
it  is  a  decent  thing  today  to  do  some  social  service,  just  as  it 
is  a  decent  thing  to  go  to  church?  Or  do  we  seek  the  greatest 
objective  possible  to  human  life — the  establishment  on  earth 
of  the  Commonwealth  of  God? 

Daily  Meditations 
First  Day:  Praying  for  the  Commonwealth 

Aftet  this  manner  therefore  pray  ye:  Our  Father 
who  art  in  heaven,  Hallowed  be  thy  name.  Thy 
kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done,  as  in  heaven,  so 
on  earth.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread.  And  for- 
give us  our  debts,  as  we  also  have  forgiven  our 
debtors.  And  bring  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver 
us  from  the  evil  one. — Matt.  6:  9-13. 

When  you  pray  the  Lord's  Prayer,  for  what  do  you  pray? 
For  my  daily  bread,  forgiveness  of  my  sins?  Have  you  shut 
the  door  to  shut  the  world  out  and  be  alone  with  God?     But 

164 


THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  GOD       [XII-2] 

Jesus  taught  us  to  pray,  "Our  Father."  It  is  a  collective 
prayer.  With  the  first  words  it  is  no  longer  an  experience  of 
the  soul  alone  with  God — the  thronging  hosts  of  humanity  are 
present  in  the  room.  The  need  of  others  for  bread  takes  place 
alongside  of  our  hunger;  the  passionate  desires  of  others  to 
be  released  from  the  pressure  of  evil  stand  beside  our  desire 
to  be  forgiven  for  our  sins.  It  is  a  prayer  of  humanity  for 
humanity,  and  for  the  individual  only  as  a  part  of  humanity. 
Have  we  thought  of  this  prayer  as  an  outline  of  the  Com- 
monwealth of  God?  It  asks  for  the  great  human  needs — for 
bread,  for  fellowship  with  men  and  God  in  forgiveness,  for 
protection  against  the  powers  of  evil.  If  this  prayer  were 
carried  out,  what  kind  of  community  life  would  there  be? 
What  kind  of  world  would  result? 

Second  Day:  Sin  and  Suffering  Must  Go 

For,  behold,  I  create  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth; 
and  the  former  things  shall  not  be  remembered,  nor 
come  into  mind.  But  be  ye  glad  and  rejoice  for  ever 
in  that  which  I  create ;  for,  behold,  I  create  Jerusalem 
a  rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy.  And  I  will  rejoice 
in  Jerusalem,  and  joy  in  my  people;  and  there  shall  be 
heard  in  her  no  more  the  voice  of  weeping  and  the 
voice  of  crying.  There  shall  be  no  more  thence  an 
infant  of  days,  nor  an  old  man  that  hath  not  filled 
his  days;  for  the  child  shall  die  a  hundred  years  old, 
and  the  sinner  being  a  hundred  years  old  shall  be 
accursed.  And  they  shall  build  houses,  and  inhabit 
them;  and  they  shall  plant  vineyards,  and  eat  the  fruit 
of  them.  They  shall  not  build,  and  another  inhabit; 
they  shall  not  plant,  and  another  eat :  for  as  the  days 
of  a  tree  shall  be  the  days  of  my  people,  and  my 
chosen  shall  long  enjoy  the  work  of  their  hands. 
They  shall  not  labor  in  vain,  nor  bring  forth  for 
calamity;  for  they  are  the  seed  of  the  blessed  of  Je- 
hovah, and  their  offspring  with  them.  And  it  shall 
come  to  pass  that,  before  "they  call,  I  will  answer; 
and  while  they  are  yet  speaking,  I  will  hear.  And 
the  wolf  and  the  lamb  shall  feed  together,  and  the  lion 

165 


[XII-3]   CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

shall  eat  straw  like  the  ox ;  and  dust  shall  be  the 
serpent's  food.  They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all 
my  holy  mountain,  saith  Jehovah. — Isa.  65 :  17-25. 

And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth :  for  the 
first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  are  passed  away;  and 
the  sea  is  no  more.  And  I  saw  the  holy  city,  new 
Jerusalem,  coming  down  out  of  heaven  from  God, 
made  ready  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband.  And 
I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  the  throne  saying,  Behold, 
the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  shall  dwell 
with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  peoples,  and  God  him- 
self shall  be  with  them,  and  be  their  God :  and  he  shall 
wipe  away  every  tear  from  their  eyes ;  and  death  shall 
be  no  more;  neither  shall  there  be  mourning,  nor 
crying,  nor  pain,  any  more :  the  first  things  are  passed 
away. — Rev.  21 :  1-4. 

Nirvana  is  for  the  individual.  A  future  with  sensual 
delights  is  for  the  one  man.  So  is  "the  happy  hunting  ground." 
But  the  heaven  of  the  Scriptures  is  a  social  vision.  Sin  and 
pain  are  abolished  from  the  common  life. 

Notice  how  practical  the  ideal  is,  how  it  cares  for  the  weak, 
how  the  poor  and  the  suffering  are  relieved.  What  kinship 
is  there  between  "there  shall  be  no  more  crying  and  no  more 
pain"  and  the  attempt  of  modern  medical  science  to  abolish 
disease?  Has  science,  too,  come  to  dream  of  what  may  be? 
It  means  something  today  to  believe  in  a  new  heaven  and  a 
new  earth  and  to  pray,  "Thy  kingdom  come." 

Third  Day:  Accepting  or  Improving  Civilisation? 

Paul  was  a  freeborn  Roman  citizen.  On  occasion  he  showed 
a  little  pride  in  that  fact.  This  was  after  his  conversion. 
Before  that  great  event  one  can  imagine  him  boasting  about 
his  citizenship.  Certainly  he  found  no  fault  with  Roman  civ- 
ilization. He  was  intent  upon  his  own  religious  observances 
and  persecutions.  It  is  so  with  many  conventional  Chris- 
tions ;  faithful  in  personal  duties,  they  have  never  asked  how 
Christian  is  the  civilization  in  which  they  live. 

166 


•THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  GOD        [XII-4] 

After  his  conversion,  Paul  drew  an  indictment  against  the 
social  world  of  his  day  which  is  appalling.  Read  the  catalogue 
of  vices  of  the  Roman  world  outlined  in  the  first  chapter  of 
Romans,  the  fifth  chapter  of  Galatians,  or  the  sixth  chapter  of 
First  Corinthians.  These  have  been  praised  as  a  masterly 
picture  of  the  sinfulness  of  the  individual  heart.  But  they 
are  more  a  vision  of  Roman  society  festering  with  sin,  rotting 
to  its  death.  What  makes  the  change  in  Paul's  attitude?  Has 
the  change  which  has  occurred  in  his  own  nature  shown  him 
the  change  that  is  necessary  in  human  society?  Has  this 
study  shown  you  any  fresh  vision  of  the  world  in  which  you 
live?    Does  it  move  you  with  a  passion  to  change  it? 

Fourth  Day  :  To  Christianise  the  World 

And  I  say  unto  you,  that  many  shall  come  from  the 
east  and  the  west,  and  shall  sit  down  with  Abraham, 
and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
—Matt.  8:  II. 

And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  latter  days,  that  the 
mountain  of  Jehovah's  house  shall  be  established  on 
the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted  above 
the  hills ;  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it.  And  many 
peoples  shall  go  and  say,  Come  ye,  and  let  us  go  up 
to  the  mountain  of  Jehovah,  to  the  house  of  the  God 
of  Jacob;  and  he  will  teach  us  of  his  ways,  and  we 
will  walk  in  his  paths. — Isa.  2 :  2,  3. 

It  was  a  great  day  for  religion  when  the  old  Hebrew 
prophet  broke  through  the  bounds  of  nationalism  and  pro- 
claimed a  religion  which  was  for  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
It  was  a  greater  day  for  religion  when  the  Galilean  Car- 
penter looked  up  into  the  face  of  God  and  said,  "Our  Father," 
when  he  looked  out  over  the  whole  world  and  called  all  men 
his  brethren.  Consider  the  audacity  of  his  vision — he,  the 
"man  without  a  country,"  declaring  that  his  kingdom  shall 
fill  the  earth ;  he,  despised  and  persecuted,  proclaiming  that  all 
men  shall  come  unto  him.  Yet,  today,  slowly  but  certainly,  the 
Christian  ideal  is  spreading  throughout  the  world.     And   so 

167 


[XII-5]  CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

the  Kingdom  expands,  not  simply  outward,  but  inward,  to 
the  center  of  the  world  as  well  as  to  its  rim.  We  are  joining 
with  the  challenge  to  evangelize  the  world  the  still  more 
difficult  task  of  Christianizing  the  world  life  to  its  very  depths. 
Followers  of  Jesus  are  in  deed  and  truth  citizens  of  the  world. 
This  is  the  greatness  of  the  fellowship  of  the  Kingdom,  and 
yet  the  Gospel  has  touched  barely  one-third  of  the  world's 
population. 

Fifth  Day:  More  Radical  than  Socialists! 

Jesus  answered,  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world : 
if  my  kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would  my 
servants  fight,  that  I  should  not  be  delivered  to  the 
Jews :  but  now  is  my  kingdom  not  from  hence. — 
John   i8:   36. 

Neither  shall  they  say,  Lo,  here!  or.  There!  for  lo, 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you. — Luke  17 :  21. 

So  then  the  Kingdom  is  in  this  world  but  not  of  it.  It  differs 
from  the  kingdoms  of  this  earth,  not  in  location,  but  in  prin- 
ciple. For  long  Christianity  thought  that  the  Kingdom  was 
to  be  beyond  the  skies,  beyond  the  bounds  of  time — in  the  here- 
after. For  longer  still  it  thought  the  Kingdom  was  to  be  the 
Church.  But  now  it  understands  that  it  is  to  be  a  social  order 
in  which  God.  is  present  in  the  common  life.  Is  there  any 
difference  here  between  social  radicals  who  have  no  Christian 
faith  and  those  who  have?  What  is  the  difference  between 
revolution  and  regeneration?  "Are  you  a  Socialist,  then?" 
they  scornfully  asked  a  witness  at  a  great  trial.  "I  am  more 
radical  than  that,"  he  replied,  "I  am  a  Christian." 

No  other  radical  has  such  ground  for  his  faith  as  the  Chris- 
tian. He  has  behind  him  the  process  of  history.  He  sees  the 
Kingdom  working  out  in  time  and  space.  Let  the  people  of 
the  earth  vote  in  their  calmer  moments,  when  they  have  the 
time  to  think  and  reflect.  Will  they  vote  for  the  kingdom  of 
this  world  or  the  Kingdom  of  Jesus?  Will  they  take  war  or 
peace,  lust  or  purity,  injustice  and  exploitation  or  righteous- 
ness and  brotherhood? 

168 


•  THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  GOD        [XIT-6] 

Sixth  Day:  It  Shall  he  Done! 

Verily  I  say  unto  you,  If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain 
of  mustard  seed,  ye  shall  say  unto  this  mountain, 
Remove  hence  to  yonder  place ;  and  it  shall  remove ; 
and  nothing  shall  be  impossible  unto  you. — Matt. 
17:  20. 

This  is  another  way  of  saying  that  men  can  do  the  things 
they  believe  in.  The  reason  the  Kingdom  is  not  here  is 
because  men  have  not  believed  strongly  enough  in  it.  Said  a 
great  teacher  not  long  ago,  'T  cannot  find  men  today  who 
believe  hard  enough  in  anything."  Only  those  men  will  ever 
advance  a  cause  who  believe  in  it  hard  enough  to  work  for  it ; 
to  sufifer  for  it;  if  need  be,  to  die  for  it. 

Yet  there  is  faith  abounding  in  the  world  today.  Where  is 
to  be  found  the  faith  in  a  new  social  order?  Is  it  among  the 
social  radicals,  the  Christians,  or  both?  What  have  they  in 
common?  It  is  a  time  for  the  deepening  of  faith.  Idealism 
has  run  low,  for  the  iron  hand  of  militarism  has  been  choking 
faith  the  world  around.  We  do  not  believe  in  the  practicality 
of  peace  and  righteousness  as  strongly  as  we  did  before  the 
Great  War.  What  will  save  the  world  from  reaction  save  the 
quickening  leaven  of  a  group  who  still  triumphantly  believe  in 
the  coming  of  the  Commonwealth  of  God  upon  the  earth? 

Seventh  Day:  Be  Ye  Steadfast 

But  forget  not  this  one  thing,  beloved,  that  one  day 
is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand 
years  as  one  day. — II  Peter  3  :  8. 

And  account  that  the  longsuffering  of  our  Lord  is 
salvation ;  even  as  our  beloved  brother  Paul  also, 
according  to  the  wisdom  given  to  him,  wrote  unto  you. 
II  Peter  3:   15. 

One  of  our  modern  social  prophets  was  accustomed  to 
say  that  the  social  reformer  needs  to  cultivate  the  time  sense 
of  the  geologist,  to  think  in  eons  and  not  in  centuries.  We 
are  an  impatient  people  and  discouragement  comes  easily  to 

169 


[XII-s]   CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

the  impatient.  For  the  strengthening  of  our  souls,  for  the 
steadying  of  our  faith,  it  is, well  to  take  a  long  view  of  hu- 
man life  and  history.  It  is  a  slow  progress.  Inch  by  inch 
humanity  rises,  slips  back  and  rises  again,  but  still  "to  one 
far-off  divine  event"  the  whole  creation  moves. 

True,  the  old  social  evils  of  mankind  are  still  present,  but 
never  before  were  they  so  questioned;  never  before  have  men 
so  dug  around  their  roots ;  never  before  have  men  engaged 
upon  so  scientific  a  program  of  prevention;  never  had  the 
world  such  equipment  of  knowledge,  or  courage,  or  social 
organization  to  deal  with  them. 

The  scientific  view  increases  our  faith.  It  shows  how  short 
a  span  is  one  generation,  and  yet  it  shows  how  the  contribu- 
tion of  each  generation  slowly  builds  the  Commonwealth  of 
God. 

Study  for  the  Week 

I 

If  we  had  the  power  to  create  our  community  life  anew, 
what  would  it  be  like?  We  would  not  care  to  have  our  chil- 
dren and  children's  children  endure  the  things  that  we  permit 
— the  saloon,  the  brothel,  dirt  and  disease,  poverty,  industrial 
exploitation,  war.  These  must  go,  and  how  many  others  I 
Those  who  have  seen  the  world  as  it  ought  to  be,  have  seen 
a  world  from  which  these  evils  have  been  removed.  It  is 
their  bounden  duty  to  translate  this  ideal  into  fact.  Must 
not  the  followers  of  Jesus  generate  divine  discontent  with 
conditions  intolerable  to  the  Christian  conscience? 

The  Christian  ideal  is  positive,  not  negative;  constructive, 
not  destructive.  If  in  your  community  the  will  of  God  were 
done  as  it  is  in  heaven,  what  kind  of  a  place  would  it  be? 
Would  it  not  mean  a  community  in  which  every  family  is 
whole  and  womanhood  is  sacred;  in  which  every  child  is  pro- 
tected and  has  full  opportunity  for  development;  in  which 
there  is  a  proper  house  for  everyone  to  live  in ;  where  every 
youth  is    free  to  enter   the  love-life  in  purity,   where   every 

170 


THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  GOD        [XII-s] 

worker  is  safe  and  free  to  serve  the  community  joyously, 
where  all  income  is  derived  from  service,  and  all  service  is 
adequately  rewarded ;  where  economic  competition  does  not 
blight  the  common  life,  nor  war  destroy  it,  but  where  all  live 
together  in  peace  and  love?  If,  in  some  fashion  such  as  this 
we  are  able  to  create  an  ideal  community  in  our  imagina- 
tion, whence  came  the  vision?  Whence  came  the  principles 
that  outhne  the  ideal  social  order — the  Commonwealth  of 
God?  How  far  are  they  found  outside  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion? 

The  persistence  of  this  ideal  is  a  challenge  to  our  faith. 
It  has  pulled  men  on  through  all  the  ages  as  the  moon  draws 
the  tide.  If  the  men  of  other  days  with  meager  tools  to  work 
out  their  vision  could  so  dream  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth, 
then  this  age  of  new  and  mightier  forces  must  follow  the 
gleam  with  renewed  intensity.  Today  the  dream  has  become 
a  plan.  Science  continually  writes  the  specifications.  But 
the  Christian  ideal  for  community  life  is  no  cast  iron  form  into 
which  society  is  to  be  compressed.  Jesus  committed  himself 
to  the  process  of  growth.  He  left  us  the  principles,  it  is  our 
task  to  apply  them.  Can  this  be  done  except  by  those  who 
keep  in  living  fellowship  with  him? 

II 

If  we  had  the  power  to  make  a  world !  But  today  humanity 
is  constantly  gaining  that  power.  There  was  a  great  tempta- 
tion in  other  days  for  Christians  to  withdraw  and  let  the 
world  go  on  its  woeful  way.  There  is  a  great  temptation  today 
for  educated  men  and  women  to  fall  back  upon  evolution  and 
to  think  that  human  progress  will  move  forward  of  its  own 
momentum.  But  the  evolution  of  society  is  no  blind  process 
of  nature;  it  is  man-controlled.  It  is  the  product  of  the 
human  mind  and  will.  And  if  man  does  not  exercise  his 
powers  there  is  no  progress.  What  responsibility  rests  upon 
those  who  have  the  vision  and  the  training  to  see  this  fact? 

Humanity  is  "going  on  to  perfection."  The  Commonwealth 
of  God  is  being  worked  out  in  innumerable  local  communities 

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[XII-s]   CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

the  world  around.  These  are  the  cells  of  the  great  world 
organism,  and  as  they  improve  in  both  conditions  and  rela- 
tionships these  improvements  spread  throughout  the  common 
life  of  mankind.  It  is  possible  today  to  measure  progress 
toward  the  Christian  ideal  of  community  life.  We  may  see 
it  in  our  own  community.  Take  stock  of  its  progress.  Talk 
to  the  oldest  inhabitant  about  conditions  and  standards  years 
ago.  Think  of  the  apathy  of  the  early  nineties  when  indus- 
trialism was  rampant  and  human  life  was  ground  down 
without  a  quiver  of  conscience ! 

In  any  community  today,  the  standards  by  which  it  is  judged 
are  the  standards  which  Jesus  set.  Contrast  the  attitude 
toward  child-labor  with  the  attitude  of  twenty  years  ago. 
Ten  years  ago  segregated  vice  was  not  only  defended  by  civic 
administration,  but  actually  advocated  from  the  pulpit.  Today 
every  intelligent  city  knows  that  a  segregated  district  makes 
for  the  increase  of  vice.  It  is  not  long  since  the  public  con- 
science approved  the  torture  of  prisoners.  Today  they  are 
beginning  to  be  treated  as  erring  brothers. 

In  any  one  of  a  thousand  ways  the  spiritual  temperature  of 
the  community  can  be  taken.  Its  progress  is  to  be  reported 
not  in  changing  conditions  alone,  but  in  a  steady  change 
of  relationships,  which  slowly  but  surely  make  toward  the 
Christian  community  ideal.  This  generation  of  business  men 
has  a  new  set  of  values.  They  are  putting  human  life  above 
profit.  Before  long  they  will  put  humanity  even  above  busi- 
ness. Some  day  the  motive  of  service  will  completely  replace 
the  motive  of  profit.  No  specific  reform  of  this  generation 
is  so  significant  as  the  development  of  the  new  social  con- 
science, the  setting  up  of  new  standards  of  value.  Does  this 
not  mean  that  unprecedented  things  will  be  recorded  in  the 
proximate  future? 

All  over  the  world  Christianity  is  producing  twice-born 
communities.  The  Christian  missionary  has  seen  one  social 
evil  after  another  disappear  before  the  advance  of  the  Gospel. 
The  burning  of  widows  in  India  is  gone;  child  marriage  is 
under  fire;  foot-bindmg  and  opium  will  soon  be  things  of  the 

172 


THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  GOD        [XII-s] 

past  in  China;  the  legalized  prostitution  of  Japan  has  been 
modified.  Human  life  is  worth  more  than  ever  it  has  been 
in  every  land.  The  killing  of  small  children  is  no  longer 
countenanced.  Infanticide  is  driven  into  obscurity;  slavery 
has  practically  gone ;  war  is  apologized  for  the  world  over. 
There  is  a  changed  attitude  toward  despotism.  Tyranny  is 
not  popular  anywhere.  Industrial  exploitation  is  coming  under 
the  same  ban  with  which  slavery  was  finally  abolished.  The 
world  is  coming  to  see  that  poverty  cannot  be  tolerated. 
Slowly  but  surely  a  world  conscience  is  being  formed.  When 
Lloyd  George  said  that  the  English  flag  is  as  much  disgraced 
by  flylpg  over  a  slum  as  over  defeated  armies  on  the  battle- 
field, the  world  approved.  He  voiced  a  standard  to  which 
all  mankind  is  certainly  coming.  As  there  has  come  to  be  a 
common  ideal  of  what  constitutes  manhood,  so  there  is  com- 
ing to  be  a  common  ideal  of  what  constitutes  just  social  con- 
ditions and  fraternal  social  relations. 

To  realize  this  growing  world  ideal  there  is  developing  a 
common  worldwide  effort.  An  increasing  number  of  inter- 
national organizations  are  working  together  in  common  cru- 
sades against  vice,  disease,  and  destructive  industrial  condi- 
tions. There  is  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation, 
representing  over  forty  nations,  and  dedicated  to  the  task  of 
making  Christianity  prevail  in  human  life.  "The  picked  ten 
million"  Stead  called  them.  What  can  they  not  do  for 
humanity  ? 

Ill 

The  Christian  Commonwealth  is  not  provincial.  It  is  a 
world  vision  and  a  world  task.  Rapidly  the  world-life  becomes 
one.  All  the  forces  that  make  for  a  unified  civilization  are 
being  drawn  together.  Truly  "the  world  is  the  field."  We 
face  a  world-life  in  every  American  hamlet,  every  Indian 
village.  This  means  that  local  community  builders  must 
become  aware  of  each  other.  They  must  become  conscious 
of  their  common  purpose  and  of  the  relation  of  this  work 
to  the  total  result.    They  are  all  world-builders. 

173 

\ 


[XII-s]   CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

The  City  of  God  lieth  foursquare  that  the  people  of  all  the 
earth  may  come  to  it.  And  they  are  coming — brown  men  and 
black,  yellow  and  white,  each  race  bringing  its  own  peculiar 
contribution  to  the  common  development  of  mankind.  It 
becomes  possible  and  necessary  now  to  extend  Christian  con- 
ditions and  Christian  ideals  to  national  and  inter-racial  rela- 
tions. 

The  very  persistence  of  the  ideal  of  a  social  order  which  is 
better  than  anything  that  men  have  yet  realized  is  a  guarantee 
of  its  possibility.  It  is  like  the  persistence  of  an  instinct  in 
the  animal  world.  •  Nature  guarantees  satisfactions  to  cor- 
respond to  it.  The  integrity  of  the  universe  assures'  us  a 
reality  corresponding  to  the  desire  for  an  ideal  order.  That 
which  men  have  always  sought  after,  that  which  they  have 
continually  worked  for,  that  which  they  have  gradually  ap- 
proached, they  will  some  day  find  and  realize.  The  ideal  may 
seemingly  recede  from  their  vision,  but  gradually  they  draw 
nearer  to  it. 

The  process  of  social  evolution  is  slow,  but  it  continually 
accelerates.  In  the  physics  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  it  is  also 
true  that  a  moving  force  gains  momentum.  The  progress  of 
the  nineteenth  century  toward  the  ideal  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  God  was  greater  than  that  of  all  which  preceded.  The  dis- 
tance that  we  have  to  travel  to  reach  the  ideal  of  the  Kingdom 
is  far  shorter  than  the  distance  which  humanity  has  already 
come.  And  today  there  are  possibilities  of  united  and  quick 
world  action  such  as  never  were  before.  The  tools  and 
materials  are  at  hand  to  build  the  road  that  leads  into  the 
city  of  God.  It  can  be  done  if  men  are  willing.  Yet  in  the 
moment  of  our  faith  there  comes  a  question :  Is  humanity 
adequate  to  the  task?  In  that  moment  one  turns  aside  from 
human  forces  to  the  God  of  Everlasting  Power. 

IV 

A  Japanese  statesman  recently  declared  that  the  modern 
world,  rent  asunder,  must  seek  some  bond  stronger  than  can 
be  forged  by  the  mechanics  of  statecraft.     He  recalled  that 

174 


•      THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  GOD        [XII-s] 

when  a  student  in  the  United  States  he  had  found  people  of 
all  classes  in  a  little  country  church  knit  together  by  the  com- 
mon worship  of  one  religion.  Because  it  lifted  men  above 
the  atmosphere  of  self-seeking,  he  declared  that  therein  the 
future  bond  of  the  world  would  be  found.  During  the  war 
Mr.  Morgenthau,  then  ambassador  to  Turkey,  in  a  longboat 
on  the  Bosphorus  one  evening  said  to  a  friend,  "Jesus  has 
exercised  more  influence  on  human  history  than  any  other 
personality.  We  shall  never  get  out  of  war  except  by  fol- 
lowing his  teachings."  Is  there  here  a  force  which  can  draw 
the   whole  world  together? 

The  Commonwealth  of  God  as  the  ideal  social  order  has 
come  only  as  far  and  as  fast  as  men  have  consciously  joined 
with  the  purpose  of  Jesus.  Constantly  betrayed,  he  is  never 
defeated.  He  is  today  the  empowering  presence  in  human 
society  as  never  before.  The  world  moves  in  the  direction 
of  his  thought  and  action.  Think  as  far  as  we  can,  we  are 
still  thinking  his  thoughts:  look  as  far  ahead  as  we  may,  he 
is  still  in  front.  He  voices  both  the  ideal  of  man  and  the 
eternal  purpose.  He  joins  together  in  his  personality  the  will 
of  God  and  the  desires  of  men.  He  makes  the  divine  human, 
and  the  human  divine.  The  future  belongs  to  those  who  work 
with  him.  They  share  his  immortality  of  purpose  and  power, 
To  create  the  Christian  Commonwealth  by  Christianizing 
community  life — this  is  to  bring  the  new  Heaven  and  the 
new  Earth. 

Suggestions  for  Discussion  And  Action 

I.    Making  an  Ideal  Community 

Try  to  draw  the  plans  for  an  ideal  Christian  Common- 
wealth.   Consider  every  aspect  of  community  life. 

1.  What  evil  conditions  would  you  take  out  of  your  com- 
munity?    What  unchristian   relationships? 

2.  What  fundamental  transformations  of  family,  work- 
ing, living,  government,  and  other  conditions  would  most 
need  to  be  wrought  out  in  our  communities  to  make  them 

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[XII-s]   CHRISTIANIZING  COMMUNITY  LIFE 

Christian?     What  transformations  in  class,  race,  industrial, 
and  other  relationships  must  be  achieved? 
3.     What  new  factors  would  have  to  be  introduced? 

II.  The  Worldwide  Christian  Commonwealth 

1.  What  world  facts  and  forces  need  most  to  be  changed 
if  our  communities  are  to  be  made  Christian?  Vote  on  the 
three  that  are  most  urgent.     Give  reasons. 

2.  Which  of  these  are  prevalent  in  our  communities?  In 
.what  forms?     How  does  local  action  on  these  affect  the 

Christian  World  Order? 

3.  How  does  the  Christian  Commonwealth  differ  from  a 
federation  of  Christian  communities? 

4.  Through  what  types  of  action  are  the  world  forces  to 
be  controlled? 

III.  Achieving  the  Christian  Commonwealth 

1.  At  the  present  rate  of  progress  what  hope  is  there  of 
achieving  it? 

2.  What  groups  in  our  communities  believe  that  we  are 
progressing  toward  the  achievement  of  an  ideal  social  order? 
Why  ?    What  groups  doubt  this  ?    Why  ? 

3.  How  does  the  Christian  assurance  of  the  achievement 
of  the  Christian  Commonwealth  differ  from  the  views  held 
by  other  groups  of  idealists?  What  evidence  has  the 
Christian  to  support  his  faith? 


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